Illustrations of the passes of the Alps, by which Italy communicates with France, Switzerland, and Germany

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ILLUSTRATIONS ^^n**

OF THE

PASSES OF THE ALPS,

BY WHICH

I TA LY

COISniTNICATES WITH

FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, AND GERMANY.

WILLIAM BROCKEDON,

MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS AT FLORENCE.

VOLUME THE FIRST;

CONTAINING

THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD ; THE MONT GENEVBE ; THE MONT CENIS :

THE MONT ST. GOTHARD ; THE GREAT ST. BERNARD ;

AND THE STELVIO.

LONDON :
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, CO VENT GARDEN.

LONDON :
Printed by G. B»ecl*t. Castle St. Leicester Sq.

THE PLATES

CONTAINED IN VOLUME THE FIRST.

PASS OF THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD.

1. Scene near La Tuille. Title Vignette.

2. Vale of Gresivaudan, from the Chateau

Bayard.

3. The Roche Blanche.

4. Scene from the Little Saint Bernard,

looking towards the Tarentaise.

5. Colonne de Joux, and Hospice of the

Little Saint Bernard.

6. Mont Blanc, from the Baths of St.

Didier.

7. Mont Blanc, and the Val d'Aosta above

Fort Roc.

8. Ascent of the Little St. Bernard from

the Tarentaise. End Vignette.

9. Map of the Route from Grenoble to

Aosta.

PASS OF THE MONT GENEVRE.

1. Fall of the Romanche, near Villard

d'Arene. Title Vignette.

2. The Fort of Fenestrelles.

3. Scene from the Ascent to the Mont

Genevre.

4. Brianeon.

5. Val de Guisane, from the Col de Lau-

taret.

6. Scene in the Val Romanche.

7. Grenoble, from the road to Vizille.

8. Obelisk, and Bourg Mont Genevre.

End Vignette.

9. Map of the Route from Turin to Gre-

noble, by Fenestrelles, the Mont Ge-
nevre, and the Val Romanche.

PASS OF THE MONT CENTS.

1. The Lake and Plain of Mont Cenis.

Title Vignette.

2. Lyons, from the Confluence of the Rhone

and Saone.

3. Montmeillan.

4. Fort Lesseillon near Bramante.

5. Ascent of the Grand Croix, from the

Plain of Saint Nicholas.

6. Monastery of St. Michel above Saint

Ambrogio.

7. Turin and the Alps, from the Mont

Superga.

8. Valley of the Arc, from above St.

Michel. End Vignette.

9. Map of the Route from Lyons to Turin,

by the Mont Cenis.

PASS OF THE MONT ST. GOTHARD.

1. The Devil's Bridge. Title Vignette.

2. Bellinzona, from Samentina.

3. Airolo and the Val Levantine.

4. Ponte Tremola.

5. The Summit of the Pass of the St.

Gothard.

6. Scene in the Valley of the Reuss, above

Goschenen.

7. Tell's Chapel, from the Lake of Uri.

8. Tell's Tower, Altorf. End Vignette.

9. Map of the Route from the Lago Mag-

giore to the Lake of Uri.

PASS OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD.

1. Hospice of the Great Saint Bernard.

Title Vignette.

2. The Valley of the Rhone above Mar-

tigny.

3. Scene in the Forest of St. Pierre.

4. Lake of the Great Saint Bernard, from

the Hospice.

5. Descent from the Great Saint Bernard

on the side of Italy.

6. The Valley and City of Aosta, from the

Chateau Quart.

7. Chateau of Saint Germain, from the

Defile of Mont Jovet.

8. Gate of Bourg Saint Pierre. End

Vignette.

9. Map of the Route from Martigny to

Ivrea, by the Great Saint Bernard.

PASS OF THE STELYIO.

1. Galleries in the Wurmser-loch. Title

Vignette.

2. The Vale of Meran, from the old Castle

of Tyrol.

3. The Ortler-spitz, from the Summit of

the Stelvio Pass.

4. The Baths of Bormio.

5. Sondrio.

6. Lecco.

7. Como, from the Road to Erba.

8. The Chateau of Gastenbell. End Vig-

nette.

9. Map of the Route from Botzen to

Milan, by the Pass of the Stelvio.

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ROUTE

FROM

GRENOBLE TO AOSTA,

BY THE

PASS OF THE LITTLE SAINT BERNARD.

This route presents to the traveller some of the most beau-
tiful scenes of Dauphiny, of the Tarentaise, and of Piedmont.
Excellent carriage -roads through the vale of Gresivaudan
conduct, on either side of the river Isere, to the great route
of the Cenis; that on its right bank leads by Lumbin, Fort
Barraud, and Chapareillan on the frontiers of Savoy, to the
Cenis road, between Chainberry and Montinelian : on the left
bank the road passes through Goncelin and Pont Charra, the
last town on the French frontiers, and falls into the route of
the Cenis at the village of Planese, where Montinelian, its old
fort,* and the valley of the Isere, present one of the finest
views between Lyons and Turin.

The vale of Gresivaudan, or plain of Grenoble, one of the
richest in France in corn, wine, and other products of the soil,
is nowhere surpassed in scenes of picturesque beauty. From
the road to Lumbin the views towards the south-east are

* It was formerly considered one of the strongest fortifications in Europe : the
treachery of the governor gave it to the possession of Henry the Fourth of France m
1600. Whilst he was besieging it, he narrowly escaped with his life from a cannon-
shot ; and his son, Louis the Thirteenth, after having invested it fifteen months, was
compelled by its gallant defender, Bens de Cavour, to raise the siege. The fort was
demolished by the French in 1703, and has never since been restored.

NO. I. B

PASSES OF THE ALPS.

bounded by the lofty range of mountains which forms the
northern side of the Val Romanche, and from the left bank of
the Isere the opposite mountains appear, by their proximity,
to bans; over the road beneath them, in bold and precipitous

masses.

At the upper end of the valley there are some scenes
which the traveller should visit. Near Chapareillan, the bold
ranee of mountains which bounds the north-eastern side of
the valley, and divides it from the Grand Chartreuse, ter-
minates in Mont Grenier, part of which fell in 1249, and
produced an interesting field for the researches of the geologist
in the Abymes de Myans.

On the right of the road, ascending by Goncelin, near
Pont Charra, are the ruins of the chateau Bayard, where the
chevalier "sans j>e//r et sans reprocfie" was born in the year
1476; the remains are not picturescpie, except those of the old
entrance : but the views from the ruined terrace are very fine,
particularly towards Mont La Tuile. above Montmelian : in
this direction the eye commands the scene from Pont Charra
to Fort Barraud, the windings of the Isere, and beyond it the
plain extending almost to Chamberry.*

At Montmelian, where the great road to the Cenis crosses
the Isere. the traveller from Grenoble by Pont Charra enters
upon the line of Hannibal's march into Italy. This subject of
deep inquiry and great interest to the historian has been most
ably illustrated in "A Dissertation on the Passage of Han-
nibal over the Alps, by a Member of the University of Oxford"
which offers such clear and essential evidence as every one
accpiaiuted with the various passes of the Alps, and who is
interested in the inquiry, must consider conclusive.! It traces
the route of Hannibal into Italy from the Rhone, and shows
that, after he had ascended the river and defeated the Allo-
broges, he passed the Mont du Chat, near Chamberry, thence

* Plate the first.

f There is a work on the same subject, which coincides with the " Dissertation,"
by M. J. A. de Luc, of which a second edition was published in 1825, at Geneva.

THE LITTLE SAINT BERNARD. 3

marched to Montmelian, and ascended by the right bank of the
Isere to the passage of the Alps by the Little Saint Bernard.

From Montmelian to LTIopital Conflans, the road, which
leads to the Tarentaise, ascends by the right bank of the Isere,
through a succession of beautiful scenes, which are sometimes
rendered more interestiug by ruins of baronial castles. One
of the most remarkable of these is the chateau Moilans, whose
towers stdl seem to frown from their high rock 011 the passing
traveller. In the early part of the sixteenth century this
castle was purchased by one of the dukes of Savoy, and made
the state prison of the duchy.

This part of the route abounds with villages, whose inha-
bitants appear to be numerous, and then- industry is evinced by
the highly cultivated state of the valley. L'Hopital is situated
on the right bank of the river Arly, which divides it from Con-
flans, and at the base of the hill, on the sides of which Conflans
is built. A good street and excellent inns are scarcely expected
by the English traveller, but these are to be found at L'Hopital.
The road up the valley of the Isere from Conflans makes a
considerable turn from a north-east to a -outh-south-east direc-
tion, and above this inflection the scenes are more confined,
and the lower ranges of mountains more richly wooded ; the
valley, through which there is an excellent road, is pastoral
and retired in its character, though chateaux are still seen
jutting out, on rocks and commanding situations, from the rich
background of forest-trees. Some grand rocky scenes present
themselves to the traveller before he arrives at the neat village
of Aigue Blanche : beyond this place the valley narrows to a
ravine, by the side of which there is a well-constructed road
to Moutiers, the chief town of the Tarentaise. Moutiers is
situated in a little plain nearly surrounded by mountains, and
is celebrated for its salt-works, mines, and mineral springs.

From Moutiers a mule-road leads by the valley of the Doron,
over the Col de la Vanoise, to Termignon, on the great road of
the Mont Cenis ; a journey of interest, and of easy accomplish-
ment in the height of summer. At the distance of a few miles

4 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

from Moutiers the road passes by the hot and mineral baths
of Brida, or, as they are called in the old records of Savoy,
La Perriere:* they are now much resorted to by invalids.
The temperature of the water is about 96° of Fahrenheit, and
it contains about 140th part of saline matter.

On leaving Moutiers, to pursue the route to the Little Saint
Bernard, the Isere is still ascended, but in another direction,
nearly parallel to the road from Montmelian to Conflans : for
a short distance the ascent is rapid, through a ravine; then
leaving the Isere, the road passes by the village of St. Marcel,
and encounters the river again at Le Saut de la Purcelle, a
tremendous gorge, at whose base the Isere is seen forcing its
passage. The road is carried over the rocks three hundred
feet, nearly perpendicular, above the river, to enter the valley
of Centron, where, though the vine is still cultivated, and the
valley is studded with villages, it assumes a comparatively
sterile appearance ; the mountain -side, which abruptly de-
scends to the river, is clothed with pines, which now prevail
among the foliage ; and the mountains of the Little Saint
Bernard close the vista.

After passing the village of Centron, the traveller enters,
near the middle of the valley, the old town of Ayme, formerly
the Forum Claudii of the Centrones ; it is rich in Roman
inscriptions and other evidences of early importance : the road
passes through it, and continues to Bourg St. Maurice.

The plain in which this town is situated extends itself
beyond Scez, up the valley of the Isere, which is a wider and
more obvious route to a passage by the Alps than that which
leads by the valley of the Reclus, as it presents the course of
the larger stream ; and the traveller is not at first prepared for
the true road, by the Reclus, to the Little Saint Bernard, because
this turns off to the left from Scez by a lateral valley, through
which it flows into the Isere. Formerly a path led by the right
bank of the Reclus; but an ill-paved and worse-preserved road

* There is an account of these baths in Bakewell's interesting Travels in the
Tarentaise.

THE LITTLE SAINT BERNARD. 5

now conducts, on the other side, by Notre Dame des Nei°:es and
Yillars, to the RocJie Blanche;* at the foot of which the river
is crossed by a good bridge, and the road winds up the moun-
tain, by a tolerable mule-path, to Saint Germaius, the last
village of the Tarentaise. The Roche Blanche is a vast mass
of gypsum, appearing to close the valley of the Reclus, which
struggles amongst the rocks at its steep base ; its summit is
covered with pines ; and, as a military position, its occupation
secures the defence of the pass, whilst its occupants might
march from its summit to the Coif of the Little Saiut Bernard,
without again descending, as the mass of exposed gypsum,
which gives name to the rock, is protruded, like a headland from
the mountain, at the upper end of the little plain of Villars.

The Roche Blanche is a remarkable feature in this passage,
not only from its geological character, but from its historical
connexion with the invasion of Italy by Hannibal. The evi-
dence of its being the White Rock mentioned by Polybius,
where Hannibal took up his position to defend his army from
the assaults of the Centrones, during its ascent of the valley,
will be found in the " Dissertation " already mentioned.

While the author of these Illustrations was sketching the
Roche Blanche, a respectable-looking farmer on horseback,
who was passing, rested for a moment, and said, " That, sir,
is the Roche Blanche : formerly a great general called Han-
nibal passed this way with his army, and fought a battle here."
Tradition is good collateral evidence, though of little value
alone. On many other passes of the Alps the name of Han-
nibal has been left by inquirers into this interesting subject,
and become familiar to the peasantry. The Viso, the Cenis, the
Genevre, and the Grand Saint Bernard, have their traditions ;
and even on the snows and glaciers of the Cervin, the author
was told by his guide that the fort of St. Theodule, situate on
that mountain, was built by Hannibal in his passage there ; and
talked of Tite-Liue and Poh/be as authority for his assertions.

* Plate the second. f The Col is the highest traversable part of a mountain.

6 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

The traditions, however, of the passage of Hannibal by the
Little Saint Bernard assume a higher character ; they are not
confined to the pass of the mountain, hut may he traced on
this route from the Rhone to Turin. The old Roman road
over the Graian Alps passed to the right of the Roche Blanche;
at present, a modern path on the other side, through Saint
Germains, conducts by an easy ascent above the village to the
Hospice and plain of the Col :* the heavy snows which fall
here in winter have induced the precaution of raising poles at
certain distances to guide the traveller ; sometimes these posts
have cross-pieces nailed on at the top, rather to assist the
traveller's course by their direction than from any religious
motive. It would employ about three hours to walk from
the Roche Blanche to the Hospice on the summit of this pass.
About half-way up, the view, on looking back, is striking : the
valley of Centron, the road winding down the mountain to
Saint Germains, the side of the Roche Blanche hanging over
the Reclus, and the beautiful forms of the Mount Iseran, com-
bine to form a fine Alpine scene. f

The Hospice on the summit is on the brink of the descent
to the Tarentaise : bread, butter, and cheese, sometimes meat,
and always wine, may be had there. In 1824 it was occupied
by a man and his wife, with a family of hardy children. He is
stationed there by the Sardinian government, and remains all
the year : he is directed to assist and relieve the poor traveller
gratis ; but those who can afford to pay, discharge the expenses
which they incur as they would at an inn. It was formerly
held by some monks from the Great Saint Bernard, whose
cells and little chapel are now in ruins ; these have been left
so since the year 1794, when, during the wars of Italy, France
poured her republican soldiery through the defiles of the Alps.
The summit of the Little Saint Bernard was then the site of
some military operations, not surpassed by any deeds of daring
in those regions ; but though they want the mystery and

* End vignette. f P^atc tue third.

-

THE LITTLE SAINT BERNARD. 7

magnitude which the mists of time throw over distant events,

o 7

the heroism displayed hi the conquest of this pass is not for-
gotten in the annals of France. On the 24th of April, 1794,
a division under General A. Dumas, armed only with swords
and muskets, and at this most difficult and dangerous season,
attacked the stations of the Austria- Sardinians on these moun-
tains. After having for two days struggled through the ac-
cumulated snows, and crossed precipices, to contend with
indestructible ramparts, bristled with artillery, and defended
by superior numbers, they forced a triple redoubt on Mont
Valaisan, carried a position of 1200 men on the Belveder, and
compelled the guardians of the pass to defend themselves
at the Hospice, which was laid in ruins ; for against this posi-
tion the cannon of the conquered redoubts were tm-ned, and
the French soon drove their enemies from this disastrous post,
to take refuge in the valleys of Piedmont.

Tbe plain on the summit, from the Hospice to the com-
mencement of the descent to La Tuille, is above two miles
long and about a mile in width ; here Hannibal encamped his
army two days, to refresh his soldiers and wait for stragglers.
Tins place has a very convenient extent for the temporary rest
of 25,000 men, to which number the army of Hannibal was
now nearly reduced. He had passed the Rhone with 40,000 ;
and Polybius states, that, on entering the plains of Italy, they
were reduced to little more than half that number. The lake
of Vernal, or of the Little Saint Bernard, is the source of the
Doira Baltea, and does not occupy any part of the plain, but
is situated far below it, at its northern extremity, at the base
of the mountains which form the north-west boundary of the
Col ; its surface is not equal to one-hundredth part of the
extent of the plain.

About twelve hundred yards north-east of the Hospice
stands a broken column, the remains of a temple, which bears
the name of the Colonne de Joux;* it is nearly twenty feet

* Plate the fourth.

PASSES OF THE ALPS.

hia;h, and three feet in diameter. It is of the variety of marble
called Cipolino, which abounds in the upper part of a neigh-
bouring mountain, the Cramont. The column has been sur-
mounted by a small iron cross, placed there either as an object
of worship, or to preserve this relic of a temple, of which the
plan may with some difficulty be traced. Farther to the north-
east, and about three hundred yards from the column, is a
large circle of stones, through the midst of which the road
across the mountain passes; this circle is generally called, at
least by the people of the Tarentaise side of the mountain, the
Cirque d'Annibal ; and the tradition is, that Hannibal held a
council of war on that spot. The muleteers who pass this
road, the people of the Hospice, the guides, and the neigh-
bouring peasantry, know it only by that name. It is formed
on the highest ground of the plain, and is composed of stones
of the varieties found there, principally compact gneiss and
clay slate, in irregular masses, varying in weight from three
hundred to six hundred pounds ; they are about ten feet apart,
and the circle measures nearly two hundred and fifty yards
round. As it would have been easv for five hundred of Han-
nibal's Nvunidians to have formed this circle in an hour with
the stones which lay scattered on the plain, it is highly pro-
bable, considering the elevation of the circle, its situation near
the middle of the plain, and the facility with which it might
have been formed there, that it was a spot in the camp devoted
to the general, his council, or some religious observances of
the Carthaginian army.

From the middle to the north-eastern extremity of the
plain, a magnificent spectacle is presented by Mont Blanc, as
it towers over the Cramont and range of mountains south-east
of the Allee Blanche. The traveller who would enjoy one of
the finest scenes in the Alps should ascend the Belveder, one
of the mountains which bound the Col of the Little Saint
Bernard. After an hour's easy ascent from the Hospice, which
may be accomplished on a mule, an unrivalled Alpine pano-
rama would lie before, beneath, and around him. Mont Blanc,

THE LITTLE SAINT BERNARD. 9

with its grand glaciers of the Miage and the Brenva, which
appear to stream from its sides, the Great Saint Bernard, the
high summits of the Cervin and Mont Rosa, the immense
glacier of the Ruitor extending sixteen leagues, the Mont
Iseran, and a thousand intermediate peaks, would he presented
in magnificent succession. A similar scene may be observed
from the Valaisan, but this is more difficult of access. The
mountain on the north-west of the Hospice, the Belle-face, is
still more difficult to climb, and the scene from its height does
not repay the trouble of attaining it, as the finest object, Mont
Blanc, is concealed by the intervention of the mountain of the
Bottomless Lake.

From no part of the passage of the Little Saint Bernard
or the surrounding mountains can the "plains of the Po" be
seen, which Polybius says Hannibal pointed out to his army
to reanimate them after the fatigues of their march and ascent.
This stumbling-block in the investigation of the passage of
the Alps by Hannibal is removed only on the Col de Yiso,
whence the plains of Italy can be seen ; but the utter want
of agreement with Polybius in every other part, and the
insurmountable difficulties which must have been presented
to the Carthaginian army by the pass of the Yiso, prevent
any one acquainted with it from adopting the opinion that
Hannibal went that way.

It is stated, however, by Polybius, in cap. 54, that Hannibal
pointed out also the situation of Rome. It would have been
as possible from any part of the Alps to have pointed out that
of Athens. The author of the " Dissertation " thinks that
the direction and bearings of the plains of the Po and Rome
are all that is meant : the whole sentence thus indicates, that
he pointed out the situations in which those places lay, the
mountain-ridges which bounded the valleys leading to the
plains of the Po, and the streams flowing from the summit in
that direction, to the truth of which his guides, the Cisalpine
Gauls, who accompanied him, could bear testimony. All this
might have been shown to the soldiers by merely going to the
no. i. c

10 PASSAGE OF THE ALPS.

end of the little plain of the camp, and observing the deep
valley of La Tnille below them.

Soon after leaving the Cirque d'Aunibal, the ruins of a large
building are passed, which appears to have been destroyed by
fire, probably during the war of 1794. A little beyond, the
plain terminates, and the scene opens in the valley of La
Tuille, to which a rugged path descends as far as Pont Serrant.
Before any road was made, the difficulties and dangers of this
precipitous route must have been very great : here occurred
the heavy losses which Hannibal sustained in the descent of
his army. At Pont Serrant these must have been particularly
fatal ; for the river which flows from the lake of the Little
Saint Bernard, rushes across the path through a frightful
eoree, and falls on the rioht into the valley which leads to
La Tuille. This gorge is about two hundred feet deep, yet
so narrow that it is crossed by a wooden bridge twenty-three
paces in length, of which twelve only are actually clear of
the rocks at the top. In descending to La Tuille, this gulf
cannot be seen until within one hundred feet of the brink, as
it presents no other appearance than that of a haw-haw in an
English pleasure-ground : it is easy to imagine how destructive
such a place must have been to an army descending.

Three cpiarters of an hour* froni Pont Serrant the traveller
reaches La Tuille. A little below this village there is a spot
of much importance in establishing the fact of Hannibal's
passage by this route. The Doire, joined by a torrent which
descends from the vast glaciers of the Mont Ruitor, forces its
way through a deep ravine about a quarter of a mile below
La Tuille : before arriving at this defile the river is crossed by
a wooden bridge, and a safe road winds up and round the
corner of a lime rock, out of which the present road has been
cut : this was made, about fifty years since, to avoid the
dangers of the old road, which passed on the other side of
the torrent, and which was almost annually destroyed by the

* Distances are usually reckoned by time in the Alps.

THE LITTLE SAINT BERNARD. 1 1

avalanches which fell into this gulf from the south-eastern
base of the Cramont.* It sometimes happens, that the snow
accumulates in this ravine in so great a quantity, that it re-
mains nnmelted during the year; and it is stated by Polybius,
cap. 55, that this unusual circumstance occurred in the season
of Hannibal's passage, and that it occasioned a day's delay and
threat loss to his army, from the men and beasts of burden
falling over this mass of snow, or sinking through it.f The
distance of this gorge from the encampment on the summit,
and extent of site liable to these avalanches and accumulations
of snow, agree exactly with the account of Polybius. The
author of this work, who had not on a former visit to the
Little Saint Bernard, in 1824, seen any snow in this ravine,
found a large mass there at the end of August 1826.

The road from this ravine continues high above the torrent,
until it descends rapidly by a tourniquet and crosses the river
near La Balme. Below this place the valley widens a little ;
but near the descent to the baths of St. Didier the stream
sinks into a deep abyss, and forces its way, almost in darkness,
through a tremendous rift in the mountain, whence it escapes
into the Val d'Aosta. The road on the left bank leaves the
river so far beneath, that its struggles are only heard. Fearful
accidents have happened here, though the road is good and
there is no appearance of danger : several crosses, the chroni-
cles of death, are near, to solicit prayers for the repose of the
souls of the unfortunate, whose humble memorials are their
initials, and the dates of the accidents, preceded by P I, or, as
it is sometimes carved on the cross, Pent ici.

Few scenes in the Alps are more magnificent than the range
of Mont Blanc, seen from this descent to Pre St. Didier ; but

* Title vignette.

t It is important to notice the statement of Polybius, that " the beasts of burden
also, when they endeavoured to rise from their fall, broke through the surface of the
snow, and remained there with their loads, as it were wedged in." This could only
have happened in a situation where, as in this ravine, the water had sub-melted the
snow as it passed beneath ; for as the feet found no support, the beasts could not
extricate themselves.

12 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

the finest effect under which the author ever saw it was by
moonlight. Nothing can he imagined more beautiful than
the " Monarch of Mountains," and his vast attendant masses,
seen under her illumination : the snow, in shadow, was so
near the colour of the sky, that its form could not he distin-
guished; whilst the part which was lit by the moon was sharply
seen against the dark sky, of an indescribably pale whiteness,
apparently suspended in air; for below the snow, the mountains
could not he perceived in the haze and darkness.

There are warm springs at Pre St. Didier ; the baths are
frequented by the Piedmontese during the season : the visitors
are neither so numerous nor so respectable as those who
establish themselves for the summer at the mineral springs of
Courmayenr, a town about a league distant, at the head of the
Val d'Aosta. From the baths, Mont Blanc and the range of
the Alps which closes the head of the Val d'Aosta form one
of the finest scenes illustrative of this pass.* The river which
descends from the Little Saint Bernard gushes from the deep
ravine at the base of the Mont des Bains, and soon after falls
into the great mass of water, which, flowing from its source in
the Lac de Combal, and having collected tribute from all the
eastern glaciers of Mont Blanc, pursues its way through the
Val d'Aosta to join the Po in the plains of Italy. It is accom-
panied by a carriage-road through the valley, from Courmayeur
to Ivrea in the plain.

A good road from Pre St. Didier joins that of the Val d'Aosta,
after crossiug the Doire by an excellent bridge. Thence a
rapid descent for a league conducts the traveller through the
town of Morges, and an hour lower iu the valley, to the town
of La Salle. This part of the valley abounds with fine scenes,
and the picturesque is gi'eatly aided by the grand and massive
forms of the chestnut-trees, whether seen as proximate objects,
or in distant forests on the sides of the mountains.

Below La Salle the valley closes into a deep defile, and the

* Plate the fifth.

THE LITTLE SAINT BERNARD. 13

road cut out of the rock is carried high on the right hank hy
Fort Roc, a place admirably adapted for the defence of the
passage : deep chasms are left covered only hy platforms, which
may be readily removed, and the road thus rendered impass-
able : at present, strong railings or walls defend the traveller
from the danger of falling over the precipices into the gulf
below. The scenes in this part of the valley are very wild and
grand, particularly on looking up the deep ravine to where
Mont Blanc closes the scene Avith a magnificent hack-ground.*
From Fort Roc the road rapidly descends to Ivrogne, be-
yond which the valley widens ;' the road continues through it
to Villeneuve, and at a distance of about twenty miles from
Pre Saint Didier the traveller enters the city of Aosta.

It will appear extraordinary to any person travelling by
this route, particularly if he be acquainted with the great roads
made by Napoleon over the Simplon and Cenis, that this pass
should have been allowed to remain a mule-road from Bourg
Saint Maurice to Pre Saint Didier. The Col of the Little Saint
Bernard is not much higher than that of either of the great
passes mentioned, whilst the facilities offered by this route to
the engineer and the traveller are considerably greater than
those found on either of Buonaparte's roads into Italy. It is
said that Napoleon had directed surveys of the Little Saint
Bernard to be made, with the intention of constructing a great
road across it. In the time of the Romans it was made a
carriage-road by Augustus; and though few vestiges of the old
road remain, yet the ease with which it might be reconstructed
may be inferred from the facts, that a column of 6000 Austrians
crossed it with ten pieces of cannon in 1815, and the author
of this work in 1824 had a light cabriolet taken over it without
dismounting, f

It is said to be the policy of the government of Sardinia to
neo-lect all roads which do not, after crossing the Alps, neces-

O

* Plate the sixth..

t Saussure says," speaking of the Little Saint Bernard, " Ce passage des Alps est

un des plus facile que je connoise."

14 PASSAGE OF THE ALPS.

sarily lead to Turin. The objection does not apply to this,
which conducts directly to the capital by the Val d'Aosta;
and as both sides of the Little Saint Bernard are within the
territory governed by Sardinia, the subjects of this state, in
the event of the pass being opened by a good road, would be
the people chiefly benefited : there are already excellent roads
from Chamberry to St. Maurice, and from Courmayeur to Turin.
A diligence goes regularly froni Chamberry to Moutiers, and
every variety of carnage may be found in the Val d'Aosta.

The summit of this mountain and its approaches are free
from all dangers of avalanches ; and the unrivalled beauties of
the valleys of the Isere and Aosta would induce many tra-
vellers to enter Italy by this route, which is as short as any
other, if there were a carriage-road across the mountain. But
in whatever state the road may remain, the beauty and the
interest of the pass, particularly considered as the route of
Hannibal, will induce many to examine it, and the examination
cannot fail to be highly interesting. Besides the concurrence
with the ancient itineraries, other evidence of the agreement
of this route with the account of Polybius (the only early
author upon this subject that can be trusted), will be found
during its course, and traditions in aid of these extend along
the whole line of march.

In a work like this, intended to be descriptive rather than
historical, it is impossible, from the limit proposed to the text,
to enter into a defence of the opinion which the author feels
himself entitled to hold, that the passage of Hannibal was by
the Little Saint Bernard. He has read every work upon the
subject to which he could get access, and traversed the Alps
by twenty -four different passes into Italy : these passes include
every route by which the various theorists have led the Car-
thaginian army, and all by which it was possible for that army
to have crossed the Alps ; and these researches and examina-
tions have induced the conviction, that the Pass of the Little
Saint Bernard alone is that by which, according to the account
of Polybius, Hannibal led his army into Italy.

FAS§ ©Hf THE 2£©HT

■

■ ■

3EH;s.

ROUTE

FROM

TURIN TO GRENOBLE

PASS OF THE MONT GENEVRE.

There are two roads which lead from Turin to the pass of
the Mont Genevre ; one by Susa and the pass of Exilles, the
other by the Val Pragelas and the Col de Sestriere. By either
of these roads the traveller may arrive at Cesanne, a frontier
village of Piedmont, at the foot of the Mont Genevre, whence
he is led, by the pass of this mountain, into Dauphiny.

The approach to the Val Pragelas, or valley of the Clusone,
which lies south by west of Turin, is by None and Pignerol,
through the fertile plains of the Po, and over an excellent but
uninteresting road. Pignerol is a town which has frequently
been the scene of contests between the respective sovereigns
of France and Piedmont. In 1630 it was taken by the army
of Louis XIIL, which was commanded by Cardinal Richelieu
in person : it continued attached to the crown of France for
many years ; but was restored by treaty to Victor Amadeus II.
after its fortifications had been destroyed.* The situation of

* Pignerol will also be remembered as the scene of the early imprisonment of
the Man with the Iron Hash, whose fate is so well known. Recent investigations
make it appear that he was one Mathioli, a Bolognese, who was secretary of state to
the Duke of Mantua. In utter violation of the law of nations, he was entrapped and
imprisoned for life, to satisfy the reckless vengeance of Louis XTV.

NO. II.

16 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

Pignerol was very important, as it masqued the debouehe 01
several valleys which descend from the Alps : some of these
valleys were defended on the frontiers by forts, so situated that
the strength of their natural positions gave them great military
advantages; many of them are now destroyed, but the Val
Pragelas is still guarded by the Fort of Fenestrelles.

The entrance to the Val Pragelas,* at a short distance
from Pignerol, is very beautiful ; soon, however, the plains
of Piedmont, towards the south, bounded by the Maritime
Alps and Monte Yiso, are shut out, by the lower ranges of
the hills, from the view of the traveller, as he ascends by a
road on the left bank of the river Clusone, which flows
through the Val Pragelas: this road has been much neg-
lected. During the time that the States of Sardinia were
departments of France, Napoleon ordered a road of the first
class to be constructed through this valley, which should
communicate with the Mont Genevre by the Col de Sestriere;
but, since the restoration of Piedmont to the King of Sar-
dinia, even what had been accomplished has been entirely
neglected, and in a few years the road will become impass-
able for any sort of carriage. By keeping the other road
from Cesanne, through Susa, to Turin, in better travelling
condition, the government of Sardinia induces travellers
from the Mont Genevre to pass that way and visit Turin,
which might have been avoided by the Val Pragelas, and
the journey to Genoa and southern Italy made much
shorter.

The Val Pragelas is, in some places, very confined ; huge
rocks overhang the road, which shares a narrow way with
the bed of the Clusone, as this river struggles through the
gorges of the valley to join the Po in the plains.

The river Clusone is one of the boundaries of the

* At a short distance from the entrance there are quarries of gneiss worked,
where the stones are obtained and prepared with which they are constructing a new
bridge across the Po, at Turin.

THE MONT GEXEVRE. 17

Vaudois,* or Protestant communities of Piedmont : on its left
bank are two of their churches, St. Germain's and Pomaret,

which is at the entrance of the Valley of St. Martin, opposite
Perouse.

The first appearance of the Fort of Fenestrelles is very
striking: its white lines and parapets skirt the ridge of the
mountain, and descend into the valley in an almost unbroken
series of defences, commanding and impregnable. The fort,t
as the traveller approaches it, is very fine, though much of
its extent is concealed, on the Italian side, by the rocks that
overhang a road which has been cut out of the side of the
mountain, and which leads, bv a defile immediately beneath
the fort, to the village of Fenestrelles.

The fort, from the French side of the defile, has an ap-
pearance of prodigious strength. At present it is employed
as a state prison, where Carbonari, who have struggled for
liberty, and priests who have been guilty of great crimes, are
confined together; the former for security, the latter for
protection against public vengeance.^ Above Fenestrelles
the valley again expands ; the road ascends rapidly, and
winds along the brink of a precipice nearly two miles : deep
pits, which are never filled up, and large stones, allowed to
remain in the road unless removed by the peasants when
their chars cannot otherwise pass, render this part of the
route, which was nearly completed by Napoleon, and was
once in excellent condition, almost impassable.

Soon after leaving Traverse, the road winds up to the Col
de Sestriere : the plain of the Col is about two miles long,

* They will be particularly noticed in the Pass of the Col de Croix.

t First Plate.

X The horrible outrage and murder committed by Mingrat, the cure of St. Quen-
tin's, in Dauphiny, is still fresh in the memory of all who have heard the tale :
he fled from justice into Savoy, and was placed by the Sardinian government, for
protection, in the Fort of Fenestrelles. He was condemned to death in France, but
escaped into the States of Sardinia, where the clergy never suffer publicly for their
crimes.

NO. II. D

18 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

and rich in mountain pasturage; on it are numerous chalets,
where butter and cheese are prepared during the summer:
the scene froin the Col is very fine. The descent to Cesanne
from the village of Champlas is over a part of the road which
was admirably constructed, hut the Sardinian government has
suffered it to fall into decay.

Cesanne is situated at the eastern base of the Mont Ge-
nevre, and is distant from Susa about twenty-two miles : a
tolerable road leads to this place by the valley of the Doira-
Susana through Onlx, Salbertrand, and Exilles. The greater
facilities of communication with the pass of the Mont Genevre,
by way of Susa, from Turin, induced the sovereigns of Pied-
mont to aid the natural defences of the road by strong
fortifications, which guard the valley at the base of the Col
d'Asiette, near Exilles : this spot has been rendered memo-
rable by the fate of the Comte de Belle-isle, who fell here
on the 19th of July, 1747: his desperate valour, which had
been excited by the pi-omise of a baton de marechal of France,
if he succeeded in forcing the pass, was checked, after he
had received many severe wounds, by a coup de grace from a
grenadier of the regiment of Montserrat.

At Cesanne the accommodations are wretched ; but the
kindness and civility offered at an inn kept by Eigat* will
compensate for the want of some comforts. The poor host
complained bitterly of his suffering from the change of go-
vernment: under the French, the entire taxation to which he
was liable was fifty francs: the Sardinian government now
extorts from him two hundred for his house, and one hundred
for his goods.

From Cesanne a fine road leads, in two hours, to the plain
on the Mont Genevre, by what is termed Le Tourniquet, which
winds up the steep side of the mountain, whence the scene of

* The inns upon this road are not distinguished by signs, but by the name of the
host, as chez Rigat.

THE MONT GENEVRE. 19

the Col de Sestriere across the valley, and the deep mad
beneath, are striking.* In some parts of the road, where
the slope is considerable and the soil soft, the way is ren-
dered secure by pine-trees, which are driven in, or placed
horizontally, and at right angles with the road; these are
firmly propped and wedged with stones and earth, and their
outer extremity is guarded by a strong railing.

The Col of the Mont Genevre is a plain of nearly two
miles in length, and is the lowest of all the passes across
the Alps, its height being 5850 feet above the level of the
Mediterranean : if the only obstacle this way had been the
ridge of the Mont Genevre, there can be little doubt that this
would have been the great line of intercourse between France
and Italy; but the secondary Alpine ranges of the Sestriere
in Piedmont, and the Lautaret in France, are difficulties in
the way of its becoming a great line of communication, unless
a second Xapoleon should arise to realise the splendid and
liberal contemplations of the first. The summit of the pass-
age is much sheltered by the higher mountains which bound
it, and has a direction nearly east and west ; it is cultivated
even at the greatest elevation of the pass, and barley is grown
there ; the surrounding valleys are also fertde : it is probable
that these advantages induced the Gauls to prefer this route
in then- descents into Italy. Tradition reports that they emi-
grated under Bellovesus by this pass, during the reign of Tar-
quin the Elder. These Gauls were from Gallia Celtica, which
comprehended all the country between the Seine, the Ga-
ronne, and these Alps; they drove out the ancient possessors
of Piedmont, and established themselves in the extensive tract
known to the Romans as Gallia Cisalpiua.

The earliest account we have of the acquaintance of the
Romans with this route is given by Caesar, who, when he
crossed the Alps to check a formidable inroad of the Helvetii
into Gaul, appears to have passed the Mont Genevre with at

* Second Plate.

20 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

least a part of his army ; * but the account given by him is
so obscure, that nothing conclusive can be said upon it. The
profound researches, however, of D'Anville have thrown some
light upon the subject, and shown that Ca?sar's approach to
the Mont Genevre was by the Yal Pragelas, and the Col de
Sestriere ; as the passage by Exilles lay through the heart of
the territory of an active enemy, Donnus, whose capital was
Snsa. Augustus conciliated this Alpine chieftain with the title
of king, and made his son Cottius a prefect, with the guardian-
ship of these Alps, to which his name was given.

The Cottian Alps lie between the Mont Iseran and the
Monte Viso. An inscription upon a triumphal arch at Susa,
raised by Cottius in honour of Augustus, furnishes some inter-
esting historical information. Vestiges of Roman works may
be traced on the pass of the Mont Genevre : Cottius exerted
himself to render the road practicable, and the troops of
Agrippa were also employed upon it.t

At the Bourg Mont Genevre, a village on the plain of the
mountain, columns, inscriptions, &c, of Roman origin, have
been found. The archives of this place were burnt when
Victor Amadeus descended, in 1708, by this pass, to Briancon
and the Embrunnais. There is no part of the frontier of
France so immediately in contact, and having equal facility of
intercourse with Piedmont, as this part of Dauphiny ; and the
important pass of the Mont Genevre J is, therefore, associated
with many of the great military events which arose from the

* The main body, it is believed, passed the great chain by the Mons Rudus {Col du
Rae), from the Valley of Oulx to Modanne, in the Maurienne.

f A part of the army of Charlemagne, in his descent into Italy, appears to have
entered by the Mont Genevre ; but the account which leads to this opinion is very
unsatisfactory.

X In a cm-ious old memoir of the journey of the Prince of Conde into Italy, pub-
lished in Paris, 1686, mention is made of his passage of the Mont Genevre. " Le
Mardy dix-huictieine (d'Octobre) disner a Ours, passe le Mont Genevre a la ramasse
[i.e. in a sort of sledge], veu Essilles apres disner fort chasteau : quitte la France, entre
dans le Piedmont, a une petite crois, proche Iallasse village, la faut montrer le certificat
de la saute, coucher a Susa, premiere ville du Piedmont." It is difficult to understand
the situation of Ours mentioned in this quotation, unless the prince descended by the
Col d'Ours to the valley of Exilles : the passage is obscure.

ttr*w. tyV

see:

THE MONT GEXEVRE. 21

contests of France and Piedmont, from the war of 1580, when
Charles Emmanuel invaded the Marquisate of Saluces, and
gained an Alpine frontier to his capital, Turin, down to the
wars of the Pragmatic Sanction, the Revolution, and the
events of 1814.*

The road across the Mont Genevre was only a mule-path
prior to 1802, when the communes of the Brianconnais, assisted
by the soldiers of the garrison of Briaucon, at the call of the
sub-prefect, hegan the construction of the present magnificent
road, thirty feet wide, across the mountain, from Briaucon to
Cesanne, about eight miles : it was opened on the 12th of April,
1804 ; and all that portion which is within the present French
territory is still in excellent preservation. To commemorate
the opening of this road, which the government named La
Route fVEspagne en Italie, an obelisk, sixty-five feet high, was
raised, in 1807, on the highest part of the passage, on the line
of demarcation between France and Piedmont :f it is simple in
form, and built of limestones of large dimensions. The fol-
lowing inscriptions were composed by the Institute, and placed
on the obelisk, as recorded by Ladoucette : +

XEAPOLEOXI • DIP ■ AUG.

ITALORUM • REGI,

QUOD • GALLIIS ■ VIETUTE ■ SUA ■ RESTTTUTTS

EARUMQ ■ FIXIBUS ■ PROPAGATIS,

UT • IMPERI • ACCESSUM

VIATORIBUS • LATIOREM

COMMERCES ■ FACILIOREM ■ REDDERET,

YIAM • PER • MONTES ■ TRICORIORUM

ET • ALPES • COTTIAS

APERUERIT • MUXIYERrT ■ STRAVERIT,

ORDO ■ ET • POPDLUS

PROYIXCLE • ALPLX.E ■ SUPERIORIS

PROYTDEXTISSIMO • PRLXCLPL

A. MDCCCVn. ClTR.tXTE J. C. F. LADOUCETTE PR.EFECTO.

* See " Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick ;" " Guerre des Alpes, ou Campagne de
1744. par le Marquis de St. Simon ;" "Histoire Militaire du Piedmont, par le Compte
Alexandre de Saluces;" and the "Histoire Militaire des Francjais — Guerres d'ltalie,
Campagne des Alpes."

t Vignette at the end.

J " Histoire, Antiquites, etc. des Alpes, par un ancien Prefet."

22 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

On the opposite face of the obelisk was the following
inscription : —

NAPOLEON LE GRAND,

EMPEREUR ET ROI,

RESTAURATEUR DE LA FRANCE,

A FAIT OUVRIR CETTE ROUTE,

AU TRAVERS DU MONT GENEVRE,

PENDANT QUTL TRIOMPHAIT DE SES ENNEMIS

SUR LA VISTULE ET SUR L'ODER.

J. C. F. LADOUCETTE, PREFET,

ET LE CONSEEL GENERAL DU DEPARTEMENT,

OXT COXSACRE CE TEMOIGXAGE

DE LEUR RECOXXAISSAXCE.

1807.

A translation, in Spanish and Italian, of the Latin inscrip-
tion, was placed on the two other faces of the obelisk.

A grand fete was given on the plain of the mountain, when
the inauguration of the obelisk was celebrated ; upon which
occasion the prefect of the department caused a medal to be
struck, in commemoration of the event.

In 1815 an Austrio-Sardinian army, which entered France
by this route, allowed the obelisk to remain, but dug out the
tablets, and destroyed the inscriptions, which had been exe-
cuted at Turin upon slabs of black marble of Como ; each
tablet a single piece of great weight. The same spirit which
prompted the destruction of the tablets, led to the removal
of Napoleon's name from a fountain on the road, lest some
thirsty toaveller should bless his memory.

Near the obelisk, and springing almost from a common
source, the rivers Doira-Susana and Durance take their rise ;
the former flowing into the Po and Adriatic, the latter into the
Rhone and Mediterranean.

In 1340, Humbert II., Prince of Briancon, founded hospi-
tals, or places of refuge, on the Mont Genevre, and some
other situations in the high Alps, for the protection of travel-
lers ; that on the Mont Genevre was in the midst of the

THE MONT GENEVRE. 23

Bourg, but it bad fallen to ruin, and, in 1807, tbe Frencb
government determined to establish anotber; from some unex-
plained causes, however, it has hitherto been delayed ; yet the
following inscription for it was prepared by the Institute : —

NEAPOLEONIS • AUG • PROVIDENTIA

HOSPITIO • GEXEVRENSI

CONDITO

CARITATIS • ERGA ■ PEREGRPNANTES

OFFICIA • TRAPENSIBUS ■ EXERCENDA

RESTITUIT

ANNO MDCCCVH.

Soon after leaving tbe Bourg Mont Genevre, the road
descends by a grand tourniquet; and, deep and distant in the
valley, Briancon opens to tbe view of the traveller, with its
numerous forts, in a magnificent landscape surrounded by
lofty mountains. Tbe fine road by wbich the town is ap-
proached, on tbe right bank of tbe Durance, is cut out of the
rock that overhangs the deep ravine of the river, across which
a bridge of a single arch is thrown, of great height, and one
hundred and twenty feet span: by this the town communi-
cates with the forts, which rise above each other on tbe left
of the Durance, to tbe Redoute de I'lnfernet, on tbe summit of
a mountain. The whole presents a series of defences ecpial
to tbe local, and surpassing the military, strength of the
Fenestrelles.

Briancon is a place of great antiquity, mentioned by
Strabo, Ptolemy, and Pliny, tbe last of whom rather strangely
attributes its foundation to some Greeks who were chased
from the borders of the Lake of Como ; but, however obscure
the origin of Briancon may be, the bas-reliefs and medals of
the emperors found there attest its early importance. Unfor-
tunately, this place was burnt in the savage irruption of the
Piedmontese, under Victor Amadeus, in 1692, when its
archives were destroyed, and with them the civil and military
history of the Cottian Alps.

From Briancon, the Route d'Espagne en Italie descends,

24 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

by the Durance, to Embrun and Gap; but a shorter road to
Grenoble, by forty-five miles, lies through the valleys of the
Guisanne and the Romanche: it is at present only practicable
for mules. This road was known to the Eomans ; some ves-
tiges of their works remain, and their stations upon the route
have been traced by D'Anville.

From the entrance to the valley of the Guisanne,* the
view of the town and forts of Briancon, in the rich valley of
the Durance, which spreads out below the town, studded with
woods and villages, and bounded by lofty mountains, is very
beautiful : the valley of the Durance disappears as that of the
Guisanne is ascended, but the forts of Briancon continue in
si°ht even to Monestier, where they seem to be backed by
the lofty range of the Alps, of which Monte Viso is a grand
feature, as it rises high above Briancon, and closes the scene.
The valley of the Guisanne is well cultivated and productive ;
it abounds with villages, of which St. Chaffrey and La Salle
are the principal. About six miles from Briancon is Monestier,
the ancient Stabadio ; its hot and mineral springs are not
much frequented ; the temperature of the water is 108° of
Fahrenheit. Above Monestier the valley becomes sterile.
The next village, Le Casset, is near the foot of the Glacier de
Lasciale, which descends from the Mont d' Archies: here the
larch is stunted in its growth, yet a little barley is cultivated ;
and, where the poor but industrious peasant can irrigate, a
rank grass springs up, which is carefully cut and stored for
the wintei', as food and fodder for the cattle ; a prudent eco-
nomy where the snow lies in the valley usually eight months
in the year. Even in the higher and more sterile part of the
valley, where any larger vegetation than that of the rhodo-
dendron has ceased, there are villages to be found.t At the

* Third Plate.

t At one of these, La Lauzet, the author stopped for refreshment : roast and boiled
mutton, bread, butter, cheese, eggs, milk, and wine, were placed before him ; he, his
guide, and mule, were abundantly fed for thirteen sous, — sevenpence halfpenny.

THE MOST GENEVKE. 25

last hamlet of the valley, La Madelaine, a small hospice is
established, and some custom-house officers are placed there
to guard the smugglers' paths, which lead from this part of
the valley into Piedmont. Soon after leaving this village, the
ascent of the Lautaret hecomes very rapid, and the savage
sterility of the surrounding scene is very fine and impressive.*
Across a deep ravine, the river Guisanne is seen tumbling
down the mountains from its source in the distant glacier of
Mont d'Arcines, and thence flowing on to the Durance,
through the narrow valley which is hounded by rugged and
pinnacled mountains.

The Col de Lautaret, distant about fourteen miles from
Briancon, is remarkable as a barrier between high ranges of
mountains blocking up and separating the valleys of the
Guisanne and the Eomauche: it is nearly five hunched feet
higher than the Mont Genevre, and has no plain on its
summit, the greatest extent of level ground being not more
than fifty yards : the crest of the passage is covered with
a delicious green sward, which is enamelled with rare and
beautiful Alpine flowers, — a land of Goshen amidst the scene
which storms and avalanches have desolated. f On the Col
de Lautaret there yet remains one of the maisons hospitalieres,
founded by Humbert II., J which was undergoing repair when
the author passed the mountains.

The scenes from the descent towards the Val Romanche
are scarcely less savage than those on the side of the
Guisanne ; the immense glacier of Tabuchet, from which the
river Romanche issues, presents itself on the left; after an
hour's descent, the road continues by the course of the river
tkroush the valley. A little bevond the village of Yillard
d'Arene, the traveller descends abruptly to a part of the road

* Fourth Plate.

t Ladoucette says. a La niontagne pastorale du Lautaret est la plus belle des
Hautes-Alpes." % See page 8.

XO. III. E

W2G PASSES OF THE ALPS.

where the vast overhanging rocks close in, apparently, without
leaving a sufficient opening for the escape of the waters of the
river Romanche, which fall into a deep and dark defile :* the
path lies beneath rocks which threaten to overwhelm the
traveller; and the effect of the scene and situation upon his
feelings as he passes opposite the cataract cannot be de-
scribed. Thence the road ascends to a fearful height above
the river, which is heard to roar below, keeping the mind
alive to a sense of danger, until the scene opens upon the
little territory of La Grave, which is magnificent. Mont
Lens is seen in front, its sides covered with glaciers, and its
base sinking deep into the gorge, where vast protruding
masses intersect each other, and give only a slight and
occasional glimpse of the foaming river which forces its way
among them.f After descending by a narrow path, and
passing under an enormous mass of slate rock, the village
of La Grave is seen at a little distance on a hill. Chez Boi,
the only inn, offers wretched accommodation for sleeping, but
the wine and refreshments are excellent.! At La Grave the
weather is so severe in winter, that in the event of a death in
the village at that season, the inhabitants cannot make a grave
during the frost, but suspend the corpse in a granary, or place
it on the roof of a house, until the returning spring.

From La Grave the road descends to the Combe of
.Malval, and is continued through a deep ravine along the
course of the river; the road is difficult and rugged; rocks
of enormous size, which have fallen from above, strew the
valley, whose steep sides are formed hx the debris of the
mountains which rise from it perpendicularly, covered with

* Title vignette.

t The author made the passage from Villard d'Arene to La Grave by moonlight,
which greatly increased the depth and effect of the shadows.

\ At least they were in 1824 ; but when the author repassed the Val Romanche,
in 1828, he could not procure chez Boi even good bread. The baker had not ascended
the valley that day ; and no other bread was to be had than that which the peasants
use, which is so hard, that a hatchet always lies on the table to cut it into morsels.

THE MONT GENEVRE. 27

glaciers ; some of these overhang the valley, and torrents
stream from them a thousand feet down the precipices, to

swell the Romanche. Near La Dauphine, a fine cataract,
called La Pucelle, pours itself into the valley, apparently
from the summit of the mountain, and adds a feature of
beauty to the scene, whilst its wildness is increased by the
stone huts or chalets reared by the herdsmen against the
sheltered sides of the immense blocks which have rolled into
the valley.*

Not far below La Dauphine, the traveller arrives at a
gallery cut through a rock, close to the river, the last finished
portion of a great road which Napoleon had ordered to be
ci instructed through these wild and secluded valleys, from
Grenoble to Brianeon; the gallery is about eighty paces long,
and its situation bears some resemblance to that of Iselle on
the route of the Simplon. The road thence continues along
the left bank of the river: the sides of the hills are well
wooded: chestnut and walnut trees abound, and the little
church of Frenev, half-way up the hill on the right bank,
peeping out from among the trees, and farms, and cottages,
with which the hills are uow speckled, forcibly contrast this
delightful spot with the savage descent to it, and brings the
traveller again to society and its associations. But a little
below Frenev, the scene again changes, the gorge of Malval
commences, and the road, which caunot be led through the
dark defile, rises high on the mountain side, and is carried
through a hard schistose rock, which has been excavated two
hundred and forty long paces ; this length exceeds that of the
great gallery of Gondo, in the Simplon, by nearly two
hundred feet : there are three lateral openings through the
rock, to light the passage, and the look-out from these upon
the dark abyss, through which the Romanche foams its way
at the depth of five hundred feet, is appalling : after leaving

* Fifth Plate.

28 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

the great gallery, the road still rises, and the traveller finds
himself hundreds of feet above and below precipices. The
road shortly after turns oft' on the left through Mondelent, a
romantic village, the name of which is evidently derived from
Mont Lens ; it is situate at the base of this mountain, on
the site of the ancient Mellosedum; thence, descending by
a portion of the new road never finished, and now, from
neglect, difficult to pass, the traveller again reaches the bed of
the Romanche, near its confluence with the river Vencon;
after pursuing its course for half a mile, it is crossed on a
wooden bridge, and another hour brings the traveller to
Bourg d'Oysans (Catorissium). The plain of Bourg d'Oysans
is surrounded by high and rugged mountains, and bears
strong evidence of having formerly, and at no very distant
period, been a lake; this was formed in the 11th century by
the debris of the mountains brought down by torrents, and
forming an embankment in the Combe de Gavet, near the
entrance of the plain of Bourg d'Oysans. The plain was
covered for two centuries by the waters of the lake, to the
depth of from 60 to 80 feet; but in September 1229, the
embankment was forced by the pressure of the water, which
rushed through the valleys of the Romanche, the Drac, and
the Isere, and destroyed all the villages in its way; — it sub-
merged, for a time, even part of the city of Grenoble, and was
extensively destructive of lives and property.

In the scenery around Bourg d'Oysans, the grandest
feature is Mont Lens, over a part of which the old Roman
road passed, of which many traces may be distinctly seen;
but it must at all times have been a passage of considerable
difficulty, as it rises one thousand feet higher than any part of
the road by the Gorge of Malval. The grand undertaking of
opening a road from Grenoble to Briancon by the Col de
Lautaret, was decreed by Buonaparte on the 17th Feb. 1804,
and is one of the numerous and important services which he
rendered to France, without the prospect of employing it for

THE MONT GEXEVBE. 29

military purposes : the entire length of the proposed route
from Grenoble to Briancon is about fifty miles.

Below Bourg d'Oysans, for about two leagues, the valley
is highly cultivated, and its produce is considerable ; but froin
the point at which there is a turn in the valley, to Chichilane,
it narrows again to a glen, which has much beauty in its
character ; it is richly wooded, and the industry of the
inhabitants has been employed upon every spot where a small
return for labour could be sou°;ht : manv waterfalls are
passed, which at an early hour are finely tinted with irises,
whose bows spread then* beautiful hues over the falls, with
varying intensity, as the currents of air affect the mists which
rise from the cataracts. This part of the valley is called the
Combe of Gavet, from a village of that name which is situated
half-way between Bourg d'Oysans and Vizille. At a little
distance from Chichilane, the road turns off to the right,
leaving the river to sweep round the plain or basin of Vizille,
to join the river Drac, below that town. Vizille is beautifully
situated in a rich plain, surrounded by lofty mountains, on the
highroad to Gap from Grenoble, and is a place of some
importance in the province : its political character is likely to
be long remembered. It was considered the cradle of the
French Revolution, as the declaration of the parliament of
Dauphiny, which sat at Vizille, was the fatal blow to the
monarchical power in France.

From Vizille to Grenoble, a distance of about ten miles,
the road is hilly, but very picturesque. Grenoble is first seen
from below the village of Brie ; and the landscape, with the
city peeping from the distant valley, presents an interesting
coup d'ceil* The road thence continues through avenues of
fine trees, nearly the whole way to the capital of Dauphiny.

To the traveller who desires to go by the Genevre from
Grenoble, or from Grenoble to Briancon, the author re-

* Sixth Plate.

30 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

commends the route by the Val Komanche, if the enjoyment
of wild and magnificent scenery be the object of his journey :
this recommendation is given the more confidently, as the
author is also acquainted with the road to Briancon by (rap
and Embrun. A diligence leaves Grenoble by the latter road
three times a-week, and luggage can be sent by it to Briancon
to meet the traveller who may choose to walk, or go on
horseback, through the Val Romanche. A light carriage can
be hired at Grenoble to go as far as Bourg d'Oysans, whence
horses and guides may be taken on to Briancon : at Bourg
d'Oysans, Revel's is a tolerable inn: and at Monestier the
traveller can be well accommodated. Refreshment may be
had at very moderate charges in almost every village ; the
inhabitants are civil and obliging, and the beautiful and
magnificent scenery of the route is scarcely rivalled by any
passage in Switzerland.

ROUTE

FROM

LYONS TO TURIN,

BY

THE PASS OF THE MONT CENIS.

The route by the Mont Cenis might be considered as properly
commencing at the conjunction of the rivers Arc and Isere ;
but as the range of mountains which extends south of the Jura,
from the Rhone to the Isere, presents a formidable barrier
between France and Savoy, which formerly rendered access to
Chamberrv, from Lyons, very difficult, the author has chosen
to commence his illustrations of the Pass of the Cenis at
Lyons, and complete them at Turin.

Lyons is seated between the Rhone and the Saone, near
the confluence of these rivers, and, probably, owes to its
situation its commercial celebrity : it lies in the direct route to
the Cenis from Paris,* and its environs exhibit some of the
most beautiful scenery in France. From the church of St.
Mary Fourvieres, which overlooks the city, the vast plains
watered bv the Rhone and the Ain are seen extending to the
Jura, and to the snowy ranges of the Savoy mountains ; and
in clear weather, even beyond and above these, Mont Blanc
can be seen, appearing to be rather an object of the sky than
of the earth, hoveling like a mighty spirit.f

* The traveller who wishes to go by the most interesting route to Lyons is recom-
mended to go from Paris by Dijon, the Cote d'Or, Chalons sur Saone, and thence to
Lyons by the coche d'eau.

■)" The view from the right bank of the Saone, near to where this river mergi
waters, and loses its name, in the Rhone, is one of the most picturesque of Lyons.
Plate the first.

NO. III.

32 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

The road from Lyons towards Chamberry, through Bour-
goin, as for as Tour du Pin, is dull and uninteresting; but, soon
after leaving this little town, the traveller arrives at the moun-
tains by which he enters Savoy ; these, until the opening of
the road by the route of the Grotto, near Les Echelles, pre-
sented an almost insurmountable barrier against any carriage.
So great were the dfficulties, that we find, from the records of
early travellers, that they arrived at Chamberry, on their way
to the Cenis, by a considerable detour, either by Geneva or
by Grenoble. But there were three paths practicable for mules
across these mountains to Chamberry, besides that which is
now the great road to the Cenis.* The first from Pont-
Beauvoison, by Aiguebellette ; the second by St. Genix and
Novalese ; these were over the mountain de l'Epine, and were
the most direct, but they were extremely difficult. The third,
which crossed the Mont du Chat at the northern extremity of
the range from Yenne to Bourget, appears to have been a
road known to the Romans, from the remains of a temple,
inscriptions, &c, which have been found on this passage of
the mountain. f

At Pont-Beauvoison, on the Outers vif, a river which is the
boundary line between France and Sardinia, the douaniers of
the respective governments are stationed. After crossing the
bridge the road ascends the right bank of the liver, and at
length enters abruptly the defile of La Caille. Here the
traveller should turn to enjoy the last view of France, and
look back upon the beautiful scene which he is about to leave.
From the plain the road ascends the mountain side, and then
abruptly enters a ravine, at a considerable height above a

* The author of the present work has adverted to these roads to shew the difficulty
which formerly existed in travelling from Lyons to Chaniberry before the great road
was made, by which carriages now proceed to these Alps, and traverse them with
equal facility.

t It has been satisfactorily shewn, in the " Dissertation on the Passage of Hannibal
across the Alps, by a Member of the University of Oxford." adverted to in the
illustrations of the pass of the Little Saint Bernard, that this passage was the route
of Hannibal, and the Mont du Chat, the first Alps at which he arrived, the spot on
which he encountered the Allobroges.

• - -v "->

THE MONT CEXIS. 33

stream, which foams beneath in its narrow and often concealed
bed.* The route thence leads to Les Echelles,f a little town
which owes its name to the mode of passhig a cavern in its
vicinity, through which formerly lay the only path to Cham-
berry. Those who travelled by the old road, ascended ladders
placed on the face of the rock, to the height of one hundred
feet ; thev then entered a cavern, and after climbing: more
than eighty feet through it, regained the day, in a deep cleft
of the mountain ; and a path, of which some vestiges remain,
like a Eoman pavement, enabled the traveller, with compara-
tive ease and freedom from danger, to attain the summit
of this extraordinary passage. This was au undertaking
always dangerous to the unskilful, and often impracticable,
for the cavern was the embouchure of the waters from the
ravine above ; and as the snow and torrents often interrupted
the passage, it was only in the most favourable seasons that
the undertaking coidd be accomplished. When the policy
of a more intimate intercourse with France su°;°;ested itself to
the enterprising mind of Charles Emmanuel the Second, Duke
of Savoy, he determined to make a road here practicable for
carriages ; and the most celebrated act of his reis;n was the
accomplishment of this great undertaking, which was called
the route of the Grotto. By lowering the cleft in the mountain,
and terracing a descent to Les Echelles, he made a road which
was long considered one of the most extraordinary productions
of human effort. A monument in the road contains a tablet,
and the remains of an inscription, which was written by
Emmanuel Tesoro, though usually attributed to the Abbe
St. Real, commemorative of the construction of this route.
The monument betrays numerous marks of musket-balls,
received in a severe contest upon this spot between some

* J. J. Rousseau has recorded among his follies, that it was here, on his way to
revisit Madame des Warrens, at Les Charmettes, he enjoyed the pleasure of rolling
stones from the road into the roaring torrent below, and observing them bound from
ledge to ledge before they reached their goal in the depth and distance.

t An excursion from Les Echelles to the Grand Chartreuse can be accomplished
easily in a few hours, and it is the best point to start from on a visit to this secluded
spot

KO. m. F

34 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

French republicans and Savoyards, in the early part of the
French revolution : but a paper sold by an old soldier, a
canfonnier* who keeps a hovel, and sells eau-de-vie, at the
end of the new gallery, furnishes not only all of the inscription,
which the balls of the revolutionists have made deficient, but
a bombastic translation, in French, for the edification and
amusement of travellers.f

CAROLVS • EMMANVEL ■ II

SABAYDLE ■ DVX ■ PEDEMOXTIS ■ PRIXCEPS ■ CYPRI ■ REX

PVBLICA • FELICITATE ■ PARTA ■ SLNGVLORVM ■ COMMODIS • IXTEXTVS

BREYIOREM ■ SECYRIOREMQYE ■ VIAM ■ EEGIAM

A-XATYRA- OCCLVSAM ■ ROMANIS- IXTEXTATAM • CETERIS -DESPERAT AM

DEIECTIS • SCOPVLORVM ■ REPAGYLIS ■ £IQVATA ■ MONTTVM ■ IXIQYITATE

QY-E ■ CERVICIBUS ■ DLMIXEBAXT ■ PEDLBVS • PR-ECIPITLA. ■ SYBSTERXEXS

.ETERXIS • POPYLORYM ■ COMMERCES ■ PATEFECIT

ANXO • MDCLXX.

The work thus recorded was certainly one of great
difficulty, and much was accomplished in forming, in such a
situation, even a narrow, steep, and difficult road : it served
its purpose, however, above one hundred and fifty years. In
1803 this road was condemned by the French engineers ;
and Napoleon has, by one of the most extraordinary of his
great works, superseded the old road, and left it, with its
monumental record, and the old cavern of Les Echelles, to be
visited only as curiosities. The present road avoids altogether
the direction of the old one : it sweeps round the little valley
above the village of Les Echelles, rises by a gradual ascent, and
when on a level with the road formerly attained by the route
of the Grotto, enters, at once, the perpendicular face of the
rock; and a magnificent gallery twenty-five feet high proceeds
a thousand feet J through the rock, over a road twenty-five

* A person stationed to keep the roads in order.

j L'an mil six cent soixante-dix, apres avoir rendu heureux ses peuples, voulant
encore etendre ses bienfaits, Charles Emmaxuel II., Due de Savoie, Prince de Piemont,
Roi de Clrrpre, forca les roches a s'ouvrir, soumit au niveau les montagne .... fit
rouler sous les pieds leurs cimes menacantes, et, superieur aux Romains, qui n'essay-
erent pas line si glorieuse entreprise, superieur a tant d'autres qui ne purent qu'en
desesperer en la tentant, vainqueur enfin de la nature, — il ouvrit cette voie trioniphante,
qui, pour toujours, assure aux peuples divers les ruoyens de s'unir entre eux.

J 307 metres : a metre is about l-13th more than an English yard.

THE MONT CENIS. 35

feet wide. The approach to the gallery presents au extraor-
dinary appearance ; the valley of Les Echelles is so hounded
hy mountains that in the direction of the road no means of
exit are apparent. On the face of the vast rocks which rise
abruptly from the valley, a speck appears to terminate the line
of the road. This speck is, in reality, the entrance to the
famous work of Napoleon, the great gallery of Les Echelles ;
but it is scarcely credible that its opening should appear so
small as it does ; the effect arises from its contrast with the
magnitude of surrounding objects.

The scene at the end of the gallery, looking towards France,
must be very striking to a traveller from Savoy. Some time
before arriving at this spot from Chamberry, he passes through
a narrow and mountainous glen, the rocks close upon him, and
he enters the gallery, which terminates in a beautiful view of
the plain, the. village, and the valley of Les Echelles, beyond
which may be seen the mountains of the Grand Chartreuse.
The present gallery was begun in 1803, and was opened to
travellers in 1817 : many interruptions occurred from its com-
mencement ; it was, at different times, suspended and renewed
by the French, but the Sardinian government had the honour
of completing it. From the gallery of Les Echelles the road
to Chamberry lies through a sterile and uninteresting country.
At Chamberry, however, it opens and improves ; the soil is
well cultivated, and the immediate neighbourhood is not
devoid of interest. The objects most worthy of attention near
Chamberry are Aix, Bourget, the Abymes of Myans, and Les
Charmettes.

After leaving Chamberry the mountains are seen which
divide Savoy from the department of the Hautes Alpes: these
add to the picturesque, and relieve occasionally the tedium of
travelling through the avenues of tall poplars, which extend
nearly to the Isere. The road passes beneath the old fort of
Montinelian, and the traveller shortly arrives at the town ; the
Isere is then crossed, and the route continues to ascend on the
left bank of the river, whence the scene, looking back from near

36 PASSES OF THE AEPS.

the village of La Planese upon the town and fort of Mont-
melian, and the valley of Isere, is very beautiful.*

The road soon after ceases to interest the traveller, who is
not relieved from its dulness until he arrives near the neat little
town of Aiguebelle, at the entrance of the valley of the Arc,
about five miles above the confluence of this river with the
Isere. Though the town is in the foreground, its appearance
is insiouificant, seen as it is below the vast mountain masses
which bound the valley; of these the lower are richly wooded
with chestnut and walnut-trees ; those above them are covered
with dark pines, and the whole surmounted by the snowy
summits of the lofty mountains of the Maurienne.

The traveller now ascends the deep and narrow valley of
the Arc, over a good road on the banks of the river, which
struggles through its deep and rocky bed. The few patches of
land which the steep sides of the valley offer to the peasant
are carefully cultivated, but the produce is small. Soon after
passing the dirty village of La Cliambre, the traveller arrives
at St. Jean de Maurienne, the chief place of the valley. There
is little to interest him here : the time has happily passed
when feudal tyrants could make matter for history and execra-
tion, and the political events of the Maurienne are almost
forgotten with its comtes. The doctrines of Calvin excited
some troubles at St. Jean, but these have passed away ; and
the bears and the avalanches are now the only disturbers of
the tranquillity of these valleys. From St. Jean, several cols,
on the southern side, lead by mountain paths into Dauphiny.

Before arriving at the town of St. Michel, which is about
half way between Lyons and Turin, the valley narrows to a
defile ; but it opens again into a little plain, in which the
town is situated. Travellers usually pass through the suburbs
only, but it is worth the trouble of ascending through the
narrow streets of the town, to attain the site of an old tower,
and look over the little plain and course of the Arc below.f

* Second Plate. f End Vignette.

THE MONT CEXIS. 37

The route varies little in character as it advances to Mo-
dane : but beyond this town it rises high above the bed of the
Arc, skirts the mountain of Bratnaute, and continues beneath
a dense forest of pines, at a great elevation above the river,
which divides the road from the Fort of Lessillon. There is
a savage character in this scene. It is ban-en. deep, and
extensive on the one side, and there is a dark forest on the
other ; the road is terraced over a gulf of frightful depth ;
and on the opposite brink, overhanging the ravine, the fort
rises in a formidable succession of ramparts, which command
the passage:* some defensive works are also constructed on
the road-side. A little beyond, the fort communicates with the
highroad by a bridge thrown across the °^ilf, at an alarming
height above the torrent.

The country beyond Braniante, as the traveller approaches
the Cenis, becomes more sterile. The stunted corn scarcely
repays the labour of its cultivation. At Termignon, the
straight valley, through which the river Aysse descends from
its source in the Vanoise, is abruptly left, and the road con-
tinues, bv a zig-zag ascent on the riarht of the Arc, through a
glen which extends from Termignon to Lanslebourg, where
the traveller soon arrives ; and after passing through its dirty,
narrow streets, reaches an excellent inn (the Hotel Royal), at
the foot of the passage of the mountain.

The inhabitants of Lanslebourg froni time immemorial, were
innkeepers, muleteers, and porters ; whose entire occupation it
was to convey passengers and merchandise across the Mont
Cenis. These were regulated by a syndic appointed by the
government, but their occupation is now gone ; the fine new
road renders their services unnecessary, and a few years will
either find them fresh employment, or proportion their num-
bers to the demand for their services. They are at present
occasionally employed as cantonniers, to assist those who are
regularly appointed by the government of Sardinia to keep the

* Third Plate

38 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

road in order. Near the hotel a barrack has been built, -which
is capable of accommodating three thousand men : this, together
with the appointments on the plain of the Cenis, gives a mili-
tary character to the pass. A bridge, close to the caserne, is
thrown over the Arc ; the road beyond it winds up by a succes-
sion of finely constructed ramparts, and the traveller ascends
with ease at a rapid pace, over a road which, from Lansle-
bourg to the highest point, rises at the rate of only one foot
in fifteen.

The traveller soon reaches La Ramasse. The custom of
descending en traineau from this place, is still practised in the
winter ; but the velocity of the descent over the new road
is considerably less than it was over the old ; and the danger
which formerly tempted travellers to this fearful amusement
is almost entirely removed. The Englishman of whom it is
recorded that he staid eight days at Lanslebourg for the pur-
pose of risking his neck three times a-day, would now lose half
the desire to descend en ramasser.

Not far from La Eamasse is the highest point of the passage,
which is 2100 metres, about 6780 English feet, above the level
of the sea : the road from this elevation descends to the plain
of the Cenis. On approaching it, the lake and the plain, seen
in its extent almost to the Grand Croix, and bounded by lofty
mountains, on which the snow eternally rests, present a strik-
ing scene.* Numerous buildings on the plain suggest the idea
of a larger community than is to be found there ; but it is pro-
bable that the time is not distant when the inhabitants on the
Cenis will become as numerous as those of Lanslebourg, since
people are encouraged to reside on the mountain by exemption
from taxes. Among the buildings are the post house, the inn,
the hospice, the barracks, and station of carabineers, for the
examination of passports ; and along the road from Lanslebourg
to Susa are numerous houses of refuge for the shelter of those
who have the misfortune to traverse the mountains in bad

* Title Vignette.

M 2

THE MONT CENTS. 39

weather. Posts are erected along the road ; and a piece of
wood, fastened upon each, so as to form a cross, at once as-
sists the direction of the traveller, and preserves these posts, by
the restraints of religion, from being used for fire-wood, where
the temptation to destroy them for this purpose is very great.

The lake is celebrated for the delicious trout which it
yields ; and not only with these are the establishments on the
Cenis abundantly provided, but with excellent wines, bread,
and meat ; and the intercourse with the plains of Piedmont is
so constant, that fruits, fresh and delicious, are found at the
inn : game, too, in season, is rarely wanting at the traveller's
repast on the Cenis, particularly in August, when great
quantities of grouse are taken on the surrounding mountains.
During the winter the lake is frozen above six months ; at
which time the peasants drive their herds across it. The only
precaution used at the commencement of the season is to trace
if the fox has vet traversed the frozen surface.

Beyond the Grand Croix, the road winds down in terraces
to the plain of St. Nicolas. Formerly, the road, after crossing
a torrent, skirted the mountains on the southern side of the
plain, and passed through a gallery cut in the rock : there was
also a covered way, strongly built, to guard the traveller
against the avalanches which fall from the mountain on this
side, and which, from their force and frequency, have actually
worn the side of the mountain smooth ; but against these the
power of man could place no restraint. The avalanches de-
scended and crushed the covered way ; dreadful accidents
occurred ; and it was at length determined to form the present
line of road, and to destroy the bridge across the torrent which
led to the gallery, lest future travellers should be tempted by
the shorter route to expose themselves to danger. In the
middle of the little plain of St. Xicolas is the barrier of Pie-
mont, where a custom-house is established.*

* Plate Fourth.

40 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

Soon after entering Pieinont the road winds round the side
of the mountain which overhangs the deep valley of Xovalese,
and near a turn, which leads to the hamlet of Bart, the travel-
ler looks down upon the miserable village of La Ferriere.
The old route must have been a fearful one, to judge from the
ruggeduess and extreme declivity of the path. The new road
is well constructed, aud descends gradually, following the
sinuosities on the side of the mountain.

From La Molaret the extent of the scene in the valley be-
neath is very striking, but not picturesque ; the line of the old
road may be traced from La Ferriere to Susa, and on the
opposite side of the valley the enormous mountain of Roche-
Melon shuts out the view of the plains of Italy from the tra-
veller.* Soon, however, after leaving La Molaret, when near
St. Martin's, the valley of the Doire opens, and the scene ter-
minates in the plains beyond Turin.

From St. Martin's the route winds along the borders of a
precipice, with a descent so gentle, and over a road so admi-
rably constructed, and defended by parapets, that the traveller
proceeds without any idea of danger. A part of the road
above Yeuaus, a village in the valley of Xovalese, is exposed
to avalanches : but so much regard has been paid to security
against this danger, that accidents can scarcely happen, unless
the traveller exposes himself to them incautiously.

Before arriving at Susa, even in the Combe of Giaglione,
the traveller is sensible of his approach to Italy. The valley

* The vast mountain called the Roche-Melon, which bounds the eastern side of
the valley of Novalese, rises 9500 feet above Susa, and formerly had on its summit
the little chapel of Xotre Dame des Xeiges, which contained an image of the Virgin
held in great veneration, to which a pilgrimage was annually made in the month of
August from Susa and its environs ; but the path which led to this chapel was so
dangerous, that fatal accidents frequently happened there, and the lives of many were
sacrificed to then- devotion ; for, unable to breathe in an air so rare, they fell over
such dreadful precipices, that, to use the language of the Rector of Mont Cenis to
Saussure — " Que ceux qui tomboient 1ft etoient tellement brises, que Foreille etoit la
plus grande piece de leur corps qui demeurat dans son entier ! " But these dangerous
pilgrimages are now discontinued ; and the revered image, the object of this devotion,
in high places, has been transferred to Susa.

?»£«4crc

THE MONT CENTS. 41

of the Doire and the plains of Piemont lie before him ; and
the foreground of this beautiful scene is rich with chestnuts,
walnuts, vines, and the productions of a fruitful soil.

On entering La C/iiave d' Italia, as Susa has been called,
the ruins of the Fort of La Brunette are passed: in its days of
power it was so cautiously watched, that a stranger observed
to stop, and look at it for a moment, was ordered to pass on.
It was considered one of the strongest fortresses in Europe,
and guarded both the roads, to the Cenis and the Genevre.
The early importance of Susa is attested by many Roman
remains : anions: these is the celebrated arch raised by C'ottius
in honour of Augustus ; beneath which the route lav through
the valley of Oulx to the Mont Genevre.

After leaving Susa, the road crosses the Cenisella, a stream
which descends from the Cenis and flows into the Doire. At
Busolino this river is passed : thence it flows on the left of the
road until it reaches the Po below Turin.

Among the feudal remains which the traveller passes in the
valley of the Doire, below Susa, are those of the picturesque
chateau of St. Jorio; but the most extraordinary ruins are
those of the monastery of St. Michel,* on the Monte Pirchi-
riano, above St. Ambrogio. The founder was Hugues de De-
cousu, who went to Eome and obtained absolution for some
crime which he had committed, from the Pope. Hugues, in
his gratitude, promised to build a church on his return, which
he did on the Monte Pirchiriano, and consecrated it to St.
Michel. Privileges were granted to the new establishment by
Pope Silvester; and it soon became, under the rules of St.
Benoit, so celebrated for its splendour and power, that its
abbots boasted of having founded and restored one hundred
and forty churches and rich abbeys in France and Italy, f

* Fifth Plate.

t Saussure and Milan both describe their visits to the ruins of the monastery, and
the latter gives an interesting sketch of its history, but without mentioning the
period of its foundation. The difficulty of erecting such an edifice on the mountain
must have been very great, as it requires an hour and a half to attain its site. When
attained, the mass of ruins appears enormous : a part of these is entered by a large
flight of steps. There are many ancient tombs of the monks ; some of them are open,
NO. in. G

42 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

On one of its towers there was, until lately, a telegraph
helono-ino- to a series which communicated between Paris and
Milan.

The road from St. Ambrogio passes through Avigliana
and Eivoli, where there is a chateau belonging to the court of
Sardinia. From Eivoli, a fine avenue, nearly two leagues in
length, extends to Turin.

A description of Turin can be found in almost every topo-
graphical work on Italy; it is precluded from these illustra-
tions, by the limits of the text. The author, however, cannot
pass unnoticed the view of the city from the hill of the Su-
perga. The church on its summit is distant from Turin about
five miles, and the ascent to it is so very steep that it employs
above two hours to arrive there;* but the scene from the
summit richly repays the trouble of reaching it, and exceeds
any of a similar character that the author has ever enjoyed.
Thence are seen in the plain beneath, Turin, the Po winding
by the city, and collecting the tributary streams that enrich
the fertile country through which they flow, the avenue to
Eivoli, and the valley of the Doire, leading to the Mont
Cenis, the lower ranges of the mountains, studded with towns

and the bodies can be seen in a dry state, like the mummies of the Guanches : they
are spoken of as having been objects of curiosity and reverence for many ages. Some
C4othic epitaphs remain ; one of these marks the tomb of Rondolphe of Montebello,
■who died in 1359 ; and another of Sebastian Serrai, a cardinal, who was abbot of this
monastery in 1577 : there is also an ancient tomb without an inscription, said to be
that of Comte Thomas, a bastard of the house of Savoy, who lived in 1233, and who
is recorded as a great benefactor to this abbey.

The view from the monastery is described, by those who have visited it, as mag-
nificent, extending, from the vast ramparts of the Cenis, through the lower valley of
the Doire, which winds beneath the monastery, and enriches a scene that extends to
Turin, the Monte Superga, and the extensive plains which, beyond these, melt into
the horizon.

* It is generally known that the church was built by Victor Amadeus, in conse-
quence of a vow which he made to raise such an edifice, if Heaven assisted him to
relieve the city of Turin, which in 1706 was besieged by the French. Turin was
delivered, but this votive building was not begun until 1715 ; it was completed in
1731. It is a splendid object to all the surrounding country. Its internal splendour,
however, has been much overrated ; it exhibits a mixture of magnificence and mean-
ness, and much of what appears to be marble, is an imitation in painted wood and
plaster, and even some of the tombs of the sovereigns of Sardinia, for this is their
cemetery, share in this pretence.

THE MONT CENIS. 43

and villages, and above and beyond the vast range of tbe high
Alps, extending from the Yiso to the Monte Rosa : these
present a magnificent coup (Fail. The view* in this work is
taken from a vineyard, on the descent from the church, and
the scene is limited, in the horizon, to the range of the
Cottian Alps, from the beautiful peak of the Monte Yiso to
the Mont Cenis.

There is much obscurity in the early history of the pass of
the Mont Cenis. Though it has been for many ages the most
frequented passage of the Alps between France and Italy, f
there is no certain evidence that it was known to the ancient
Eomans. That Marius, or Caesar, or Pompey, J or Augustus,
traversed the Alps by the Cenis, or made a road across it, is
by no means clear. The commentators upon the early writers
appear to have confounded this passage with that of the Mont
Genevre, as both of them meet at Susa. Xeither in the
Autonine Itinerary nor the Theodosian Tables is mention
made of the Cenis ; neither is there any station on the moun-
tain nor in the vale of the Arc noticed. § Those writers who
have reported that the passage by the Cenis was the route of a
Roman army, or general, have usually given descriptions which

* Plate Sixth.

f The Italians, from this circumstance, have given it the name of the Strada
Romano.

\ The fragment preserved by Sallust of a letter from Porupey to the senate, which
is supposed to refer to a road that Pompey made across the Cenis, can in the judg-
ment of those acquainted with the passes of the Alps, refer only to the Mont
Genevre ; and Ammianus Marcellinus, who is referred to by Gibbon, as if to support
his opinion of Constantine's passage by the Cenis, describes most distinctly the
passage by the Mont Genevre. Gibbon says that " Constantine preferred the road
of the Cottian Alps, or, as it is now called, of Mont Cenis, and led his troops with
such active diligence, that he descended into the plains of Piedmont before the Court
of Maxentius had any certain intelligence of his departure from the banks of the
Rhine ;" but he is neither borne out by Eusebius nor Zosimus in this statement.
The latter merely says, that " Constantine having collected an army from the barba-
rians whom he had subdued, from the Germans and other Celtic nations, and also
from levies in Britain, which altogether amounted to 90,000 infantry and S000 horse,
descended from the Alps into Italy."

§ Simler, in de Alpibus Commentarius, says, " Nor yet do we think that this moun-
tain alone is the Cottian Alps, but others also by which the passage lies into Gaul,
between the Maritime and Grian Alps ; for, from Susa through Novelesia and
Ferrara, one ascends Mont Diouysius, whose summit is called La Posta ; thence one
descends into the valley Morienna to Luneberg, where one perceives a statue of

44 TASSES OF THE ALPS.

can only apply to the pass of the Genevre, and sometimes even
state that its route lay under the arch of Cottius. This
arch is placed at the entrance of the valley of the Doria
Susana, which leads from Susa to the Mont Genevre, and not
to the passage of the Mont Cenis. The inscription upon the
arch of Susa, though it mentions the people around and heyond
the Mont Genevre, even to the Caturiges, who were subject to
Cottius, takes no notice of any on the Cenis, nor of the Garoceli,
who were known to have inhabited the Upper Maurienne.*

It appears to be the fact, that the historians of Charlemagne
are the first who name the Cenis, and they relate that Pepin
crossed this mountain to attack Astolphus, King of the Lom-
bards, and assist Pope Stephen III. Charlemagne often crossed
the Cenis during his wars with the Lombards; and his son,
Louis le Debonnaire, is reported to have been the founder of
the hospital on the plain of the Cenis. Charles the Bald, the
son of Louis, after crossing that mountain, died, according to
the annals of St. Berthi, at a miserable village, Brios, near
Bramante. His death was imputed to poison administered to
him by his Jew physician.

Dionysius placed on a column in the forarn, which is a subject of worship to the
Gauls, and from which the mountain is supposed to derive its name. Some call this
mountain Cinisium, others Cinerum. Through this pass some write that Charle-
magne, King of France, led an army against Desiderium, King of the Lombards."

* Why the pass of the Cenis was not so early known as that of the Genevre and
some others, may be thus explained. In seeking a passage across the Alps, the
general and most obvious course seems 'to have been, to ascend the valleys and
courses of rivers on one side, and descend by the nearest valley on the other. The
Cenis on the side of the Lanslebourg offers no valley to explore, for the course of the
river Arc is from the Mont Iseran, where it rises ; and at the foot of the Mont Cenis,
in the valley of the Arc, there is nothing to indicate a passage by this mountain.
There is no doubt that the pass of the little Mont Cenis, from Bramante to F.xilles,
and that of the Col de la Rue, from Modane to Bardonneche and OuLx, were known
very long before the present pass of the Cenis ; but both these passes have valleys
descending to the Arc which would tempt the traveller to explore them. The latter,
Mons Rudus, seems to have been one of the routes adopted by Julius Coesar, when
he crossed the Alps to suppress the inroad of the Helvetii ; and troops often crossed
by these passes during the wars of France and Savoy. It may be said that the
ascent of the Mont Cenis might have been made by the course of the river Cenisella,
which offers on the Italian side the usual appearance of a passage. It must be con-
sidered that the Alps were not explored by the Italians, but by their invaders, the
Gauls, who poured their hordes into the fertile country of Italy, to luxuriate in a
soil which claimed from them less labour as a recompense for its enjoyment.

THE MONT CENIS. 45

From this period the pass of the Cenis appears to have
become the usual route for travellers from France into Italy,
and frequent mention is made of it in the military annals of
Piemont. Many writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries relate their adventures on crossing these Alps :
among them Conde, Cardinal Bentivoglio, and other dis-
tinguished travellers, have recorded their admiration of the
grandeur of the scenes, or the dangers and pleasures of their
journey across these mountains.*

But it remained for Xapoleon Buonaparte to make this
pass available to travellers at all seasons of the year, and
associate his name with its history as long as human record
can last. In 1802 the first consul decided upon opening a
communication by a grand route between the Maurienne and
Piemont ; and, after a careful survey by M. Dausse, chief en-
gineer, of the different cols which led from one of these coun-
tries to the other, that of the grand Mont Cenis was chosen.

In 1803 the works of the new road were begun, and so far
completed in 1810, that, during that year 2011 carriages,
14,037 carts and waggons, and 37,255 horses and mules
traversed the mountain.

Xot more than five months of effective labour could be
accomplished in a year. Generally the works began about
the middle of May, and ended in the beginning of October.f
The expense of these astonishing works has been estimated at
7,460,000 francs, nearly 300,000/. sterling.

* Grosley, in speaking of the guides of Lanslebourg, says, that in bearing the
chaise, a portextr, the old mode of travelling across the Cenis, "they relieve each other
with great facility, and converse gaily with their charges, of the princes, cardinals, and
generals, whom they have borne across the mountains, and on the generosity of their
highnesses : one said his father had assisted to carry the Due de Vendome, who was
le plus drute de corps du rnonde. To an inquiry, if a certain captain of Algerines, called
Hannibal, had not passed that way with a great army, about two thousand years ago,
one replied that they had heard speak of that man, and that the people of the little
St. Bernard said that it was by their country that he had passed ; but that the
Mareschal de Villars and the Cardinal de Polignac had assured the people of Lansle-
bourg that he went by the Cenis.

| The scenes in summer, during the progress of the works, must have been very
animated : from the Tavernettes to the plain of St. Nicolas sometimes more than two

46 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

The establishment of twenty -five houses of refuge along
the line of road, renders the passage of the Cenis, even in
winter, perfectly safe. These houses are placed on the spots
the most dangerous, and become asylums against the tempests
that sometimes rage in the Alps.

From Lanslebourg to Susa, about nine posts and a half,
this magnificent road is everywhere thirty feet wide, and so
easy of ascent, on either side of the mountain, that, from Susa
to the plain of the Cenis, the journey can be accomplished in
four hours hi a carriage ; and from Lanslebourg to the
Tavernettes, in little more than half the time.

By a decree of the 20th January, 1811, the French govern-
ment established a tax on the route of the Mont Cenis, as a
fund for the payment of the cantonniers ; which produced, from
the 1st of March, 1811, to the 1st of March, 1813, 328,174
francs, 13,127/. The King of Sardinia continues this tax.

It was, at one time, contemplated by Napoleon to erect a
monument on the Cenis to commemorate the conquest of
Europe by the French ; and twenty -five millions of francs, one
million sterling, were destined to its expense. M. Derrin, who
was engineer in chief, charged with the works of the Mont Cenis
some time before their completion, had many questions sub-
mitted to him by the French Institute, upon the practicability
of erecting a permanent trophy on the plain of the Cenis.
Too many difficulties, however, presented themselves, and the
plan was abandoned. No one will feel that its accomplish-
ment was necessary to the memory or the honour of Napoleon,
whilst this stupendous work — his conquest of the Alps — is
seen in the magnificent route of the Cenis.

o

thousand workmen were employed ; most of them barracked on the banks of the lake,
1940 metres above the level of the sea. At sunset a last salute announced the close
of the labours of the day ; and during half an hour, the reports of blasting the rocks
reverberated in the mountains : a little after, the camp was illuminated by the fires
of the workmen preparing their evening repast.

_-=f?

.

PASSES oj> -i'M£ ALPS

■

P.-*,-' hr J t

Mil- TO ILLUSTRATE THE BOCTE FROM iftf / i/.o MAGGfORE TO UTORF E3T THE \fO.XT ST COTHARD .

ROUTE

FROM THE

LAGO MAGGIORE TO THE LAKE OF URI,

BY

THE MONT SAINT GOTHARD.

On leaving Italy, to enter Switzerland by the pass of the St.
Gothard, the traveller approaches the Val Levantine, which
conducts to this mountain, either by the Lake of Lugano and
the Monte Cenere, or the Lago Maggiore.

The passage to Bellinzona, by the Lago Maggiore and
Locarno, is not so much frequented as it deserves to be : tra-
vellers from Italy generally approach Bellinzona by the Lake
of Lugano ; but the facilities now afforded by the establishment
of a steam-boat, may induce many to make the longer voyage
by the Lago Maggiore, the scenery of which is beautiful. The
proximity of the Alps gives to the lake a bold and magni-
ficent character ; and, whether the bases of the mountains sink
into its waters, or their summits bound the horizon in the dis-
tance, reflected from the placid surface of the lake, these
scenes excite emotions of the grand and the beautiful which
can scarcely be exceeded.

Locarno, at the northern extremity of the Lago Maggiore,
is one of the chief places of the canton of the Tessin, and is,
alternately with Bellinzona and Lugano, the seat of the
government of the canton. It is situated at the meeting of
several valleys which descend from the Lepontian Alps, of
which the Val Levantine and the Val Maggia are the principal.
The Centovalle, which leads by a difficult route, in fourteen

NO. IV.

48 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

hours, from Domo d'Ossola, at the foot of the Siinplon, ter-
minates also at Locarno.

The distance froin Locarno to Bellinzona is about nine
miles, through a country of singular richness and beauty. The
canton of the Tessiu has often been described as that portion
of Switzerland which, from its situation on the southern side
of the Alps, possesses all the advantages of an Italian cli-
mate : the soil is fertile, and its produce luxuriant. The tra-
veller from Switzerland will be struck by the almost magical
change of scenes effected in his rapid descent from the snows
and sterility of Alpine regions, to the richness of the valley
around Bellinzona.

The views presented to the traveller in his approach to
Bellinzona, from Locarno, through the valley of Riviera, — a
name by which the little plain is distinguished which ter-
minates the Val Levantine, are picturesque and beautiful,
particularly the view from the bridge of Sementina, whence
Bellinzona and its castellated mounts are first seen on this
road.*

Bellinzona is the key to Switzerland by these Alps, as it
commands the various passes which debouche into the Val
Levantine; — from the Yalais, by the Xaufaneu ; from the
forest cantons, by the Saint Gothard ; from Dissentis, and
the valley of the Vorder Bhin, by the Lukmanier ; and of
the Bernardin, by the valley of Misocco. The important sta-
tion of Bellinzona has exposed it to sieges and sufferings in
every contest in which the Swiss have been involved ; and
the Alps afforded to the people of Bellinzona little protec-
tion from the hordes of barbarians who formerly descended
throusrh their valley, or the late barbarians of the French
army who, at the end of the eighteenth century, in the desire
to extend the blessings of their republicanism, made a reckless
sacrifice of the property, the liberty, and the fives, of the Swiss.

* Plate the First. It would be well worth the time which the traveller might
devote to it, to make an excursion to Locarno from Bellinzona, if he have arrived at
this city by any other route.

-

THE MONT SAINT GOTHARD. 49

Soon after leaving Bellinzona, to ascend the Val Levantine,
the road crosses the Moesa, a river which flows from the Ber-
nardin, through the Val Misocco: the lower Val Levantine
is exceedingly fertile, but without picturesque interest. About
eight miles above the Moesa, near Biasco, the traveller
passes the entrance to the Val Blegno: the vast debris of the
mountain, which fell across this valley in the year 1512, may
be seen from the road in the Val Levantine. The fallen mass
arrested the course of the river Blegno, and formed a large
lake, which continued above two hundred years: in 1714 it
burst a passage, and swept its way, with great destruction to
lives and property, into the Lago Maggiore.

It is not until the traveller arrives near Giornico that the
passage assumes a wild and mountainous character ; here the
torrent is interrupted in its course by vast blocks of granite
Avhich have fallen into the valley; and the road is constructed
amidst rocks, which are interspersed with large chestnut and
walnut-trees, sometimes overhanging the torrent, and often
heightening the effect of scenes of striking wildness and gran-
deur. A little way above Giornico, on the road to Faido, the
traveller passes over the field of battle fought and won by
the Swiss against the Milanese in 1478. Their quarrel, which
was fomented by the Pope's nuncio, originated about a wood
of chestnuts. A ruse de guerre renders this battle memo-
rable. It took place in the winter ; and a Captain Stanga,
who commanded some of the troops of the country, advised
the Swiss to turn the waters of the Tessin over the roads
and meadows, and provide themselves with spikes for their
shoes. In the mornina; of the attack the field of action
was covered with ice ; and the disadvantage under which
the Milanese fousbt greatly contributed to the success of the
Swiss army.

Faido is one of the principal places of the Val Levantine,
but it is uninteresting both to the traveller and to the histo-
rian. The vine is cultivated as far as Faido, but the mulberry

NO. IV. H

50 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

and fig do not flourish above Gioniico. About a league and a
half above Faido is the ravine of the Dazio Grande, where the
road, in some places, is cut out of the rock which overhangs
the passage, and in other places is carried on a terrace, which
is built upon arches from the bed of the torrent. Through
this defile the Tessin rushes, foaming from rock to rock, in a
continued cataract above half a mile in length. This part of
the road, which is very well constructed, is one of the finest
works of the engineer on the route of the Saint Gothard : it
was accomplished and is preserved at a very great expense.
The change from this fearful passage to the quiet of the upper
valley, to which it leads, is remarkable. At the head of the
gorge is the Dazio, or barrier, where a tax is received, to keep
the road in repair. Thence the traveller proceeds nearly two
leagues through the upper Yal Levantine, which is indus-
triously cultivated by the inhabitants of Piota and other vil-
lages in the valley ; and, considering its elevation (three
thousand feet above the sea), it is very productive. On ap-
proaching the defile of Stalvedro, which closes the head of
this valley, and divides it from the Yal Bedretto, a magnificent
scene is presented. The mountains of St. Gothard appear
to tower over the defile, combining with their grand forms
the impressive effect of eternal snows, and making the barrier
of Stalvedro dwindle to the scale and character of a dyke.
Above these rocks, on the right bank of the Tessin, are the
ruins of a tower built by the Lombards, and still bearing
the name of one of the latest of their kings, — the tower of
Desiderio.

Near the gorge of Stalvedro there is a path on the right,
which leads through the Val Piora, and by the pass of Luk-
manier, to Dissentis, and the country of the Grisons. On the
left, the valley of Bedretto leads, by the pass of Xaufanen and
the valley of Eginen, to Obergesteln in the Upper Yalais.

About three quarters of a league from the Pass of Stalvedro,
the traveller arrives at Airolo, a place where there is consider-

<

THE MONT SAINT GOTHARD. 51

able bustle, arising froui tbe commercial intercourse between
Italy and the cantons of Switzerland, around tbe Waldstetten.
Great numbers of mules are kept at Airolo, for the conveyance
of merchandise across the St. Gothard as far as Goschenen :
the road between these villages is now the only part of the
route impracticable for carriages. On the Italian side, as far
as Airolo, and on the side of Switzerland, from Goschenen to
the Lake of TJri, the roads are good. The Swiss cantons in-
terested in the completion of this route, have determined to
render the passage of the mountain as good as the approaches
to it, for the conveyance of heavy merchandise. Iu the
autumn of 1825, the author met at Airolo the engineers who
had been employed upon the survey, and who have undertaken
to construct a carriage-road across the Mont Saint Gothard.

From Airolo a paved mule-path leads, by a steep ascent,
towards the summit of the pass. On looking back from the
Capella del Bosco, near the skirts of the last pine-forest in the
ascent, the scene is very fine, of Airolo, the Val Bedretto, the
Pass of Stalvedro, and, beyond these, the upper Val Levantine,
and the mountains which bound the horizon toward Italy.*
After leaving the chapel, a difficult zig-zag path leads to the
entrance of the Val Tremola, the last defile on the ascent.
There is an air of great solitude and wildness about this part

of the road; a miserable little bridge,— the Ponte Tremola,f

crosses the torrent, and leads into the defile, which is greatly
exposed to avalanches. Siniler, in De Alp. Com. says, "Above
the village Ayrolus, near the middle of the ascent of the moun-
tain, is a bridge which here is called Tremulous, and crosses
the Ticinus ; and in winter it often happens, that the river
being covered with ice and snow, travellers pass over the ice as
if it were the bridge, to go the shortest way. Sometimes many
venture when the ice is not strong enough, and men, as well as
their beasts of burden, are drowned in the Ticinus. But when

* Plate the Second. t Plate the Third.

52 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

you ascend above the bridge, there are no more woods, but
rugged rocks and precipitous sides of mountains covered with
snow, which, when it melts and falls down, makes the road very
dangerous ; for often the collected masses of snow fall from
the summits of the mountains, and overwhelm the travellers
passing beneath ; and the snow is so agitated by slight causes,
that the loud voice or clamour of those who pass below is said
to move the snows, which first tremble, then fall, and, having
accumulated, rush down with such violence that the whole
mountain shakes. But it would appear that the bridge over
the Ticinus is not called Tremulous because it actually
shakes, but because those who pass over it, in ascending the
mountain, begin to fear and tremble ; so that, impressed with
a sense of present danger by the very aspect of the terrific
precipices of the mountain, they hasten over the spot as
quickly as possible, in silence and trembling."

The Val Tremola terminates in an abrupt and rugged ascent
to the summit of the pass, where the sterility of the scene is
very impressive ; where the road winds amidst blocks of granite,
which, in some places, form dangerous precipices; and every
aspect presents desolation and savage grandeur. Amidst
these scenes Suwaroff defeated a division of the French arm}",
under General Gudin, on the 24th of September, 1799, and
gained the Pass of the Saint Gothard. On the face of a large
rock, near the summit, letters rudely carved record Suwaroff
vtctor; but his victory was useless, and his success of short
duration: the skill of the French generals prevented his junc-
tion with the army of the Imperialists, and compelled him to
make the welhknown disastrous retreat of the Muttathal.

The desolate summit of the Pass of the Saint Gothard,
situated six thousand five hundred feet above the level of the
sea, scarcely deserves the name of a plain. An inn is situated
near the greatest elevation of the pass, where accommodation
and refreshment may be had, which the fatigue of attaining,
alone, renders endurable. Near the inn are the ruins of a small

THE MONT SAINT GOTHARD. 53

convent, which existed there as early as the thirteenth cen-
tury : it was one of those admirable establishments that were
commonly founded on Alpine passes to relieve and protect the
traveller in those otherwise inhospitable and dangerous regions.
The amiable Saint Carlo Borromeo is recorded amongst the
patrons who contributed to support the hospice of Saint
Gothard. The convent was destroyed by an avalanche in 1775.
Two years after, it was rebuilt upon a larger scale; but the war
of the Revolution in 1798 checked its benefits, and in 1799 it
was pillaged by the fraternizing army of the French republic.
Some soldiers, stationed there during the following winter,
burnt all the wood of the building which they could collect,
and left it a ruin, from which it has never been restored. On
leaving the hospice to descend the valley of the Reuss, the
traveller passes several lakes, the sources of the rivers which
stream from each side of the mountain, the Tessin flowing
towards Italy, and the Reuss towards the Lake of Uri. The
largest of the lakes on the Saint Gothard is called the Lucendro,
and is the principal source of the Reuss. The scene on the
summit is wild and desolate, surrounded by high mountains,
which are capped by snows and glaciers : here an impressive
silence reigns, which is scarcely ever broken, except by the
bells of the passing nudes, or the song of the muleteer.*

From the hospice, a rudely paved road winds between the
lakes, over broken and rocky ground, towards the valley of
Ursern, through which the Reuss flows in its descent to the
Lake of Uri. There is no relief to the traveller from a uni-
form sterility, until he arrives at the village of Hospital, where
there was formerly a hospice, founded in the thirteenth cen-
tury, for the benefit and assistance of those who passed that way.
It is situated in that part of the Yal Ursern which spreads out
into a little plain, having at its north-eastern extremity the
village of Andermatt, at the foot of the passage which leads to
Dissentis by the Ober-Alp ; and in the opposite direction, a road

• Plate the Fourth.

54 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

by the Val Ursern leads over the Furca to the Valais. The
appearance of Hospital is rather picturesque, from the remains
of an old chateau, but there is no wood in the valley : a small
pine-forest above Andermatt, which was formerly preserved
most scrupulously, as a check to the avalanches which threaten
destruction to the village, was destroyed during the campaign
of 1799.

There is a character of repose and tranquillity in the little
plain of Andermatt, which is strongly contrasted with the
scene upon which the traveller enters when he leaves the Val
Ursern to follow the course of the Reuss ; the road lies through
a gallery pierced in the rock which overhangs the river, and
around which there was formerly fixed a frame or scaffolding,
upon which travellers and beasts of burden were obliged to
make their dangerous passage. The present road, through the
granite rock, was made in 1707, at the expense of the canton
of Uri ; it is two hundred and twenty feet long, and in height
and breadth twelve feet ; it bears the name of the Uruerloch.
From the gallery, a steep path leads down to the Devil's
Bridge, where a single arch of seventy feet span, one hundred
feet above the cataract, is thrown across the torrent, which
rushes obliquely beneath, and descends, within a short distance,
above three hundred feet. It is not possible to conceive a
more appalling scene than that which is presented at the
Devil's Bridge, by the height of the rocks, the narrowness
of the defile, and the roar and rush of the torrent beneath.*
On the lower side of the ravine, the road, or rather the
path, by which the bridge is left in passing through the gorge,
is partly cut out of the vast wall of rock which rises imme-
diately above, to a great height, and partly rests on arches
firmly built into the rough surface of the rocks beneath,
which serve to support the road as a terrace. The sides of the
rock below the path descend perpendiculai'ly to the torrent,
and a low wall on the border of the terraced road is the only

* Title vignette.

THE MONT SAINT GOTHARD. 55

protection from the danger of falling into the horrible abyss
beneath. The waters of the Reuss, in descending to the
bridge, turn abruptly to the right to pass beneath the arch,
and then appear to rush with increased rage and violence from
the momentary restraint which they encountered from the angle
in the gulf.* The bridge itself does not contribute much to
the sublime impression which the scene makes, unless the
spectator be upon it ; but it is impossible to think of such a
structure, in such a situation, without shuddering at the idea
of the danger to which those who built it must have been
exposed.

The fearful emotions excited by these scenes are in-
creased by the recollection that it was here some dreadful
contests took place between the French and the Imperialists
during the campaign of 1799. For the following account, from
the Precis des Evencmens Militaires, by the Comte Dumas, it
would be difficult to find a parallel. On the 15th of August,
1799, the French General Lecourbe, having joined the brigade
of General Loison on the same day that he had carried the de-
fences of the Mayenthal, advanced to secure the important post
of the Saint Gothard, and, about four o'clock, met the out-
posts of the Imperialists, and forced them to fall back upon
their entrenchments at the Devil's Bridge ;f these rested upon
the rocks on the right bank of the torrent of the Reuss. The
French presented themselves at the bridge, and, charging the
Austrians, reckoned upon passing it in the confusion with
them, when, suddenly, the bridge disappeared between the
parapets. Thirty feet of its length had fallen, with those who
were fighting upon it, into the gulf below, and the remaining
combatants were separated. This event forced the French

* Many travellers have been disappointed on arriving at the Devil's Bridge. They
have been led to expect, from the views usually published, that the bridge could be
seen at a great height above them ; but the artists had either invented the scenes, or
imagined a point of view which it is impossible to attain.

f Muller conjectures that the Devil's Bridge was originally a work of the Lombard
kings, whose dominions extended northward to the valley of the Reuss.

56 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

grenadiers, who had advanced to the charge, to effect a
retreat; but, borne on by those who were behind them, they
were, for some time, exposed to a murderous fire from the
Imperialists on the opposite rocks. During the night the
Austrians retreated by the Ober-Alp, to avoid being cut off
by the brigade of General Giulin, who had made a detour by
the Grimsel, and fought his way, with incredible difficulty
across the Furca, to fall upon the rear of the Imperialists:
Lecourbe's troops, who had, during the night, repaired the
bridge, found Gudiu's brigade, on the morning of the 16th, on
the right bank of the Reuss, in possession of the enemy's
position. The conquest of the Pass of the Saint Gothard was
the consecpience, and, within forty-eight hours of the general
movement of the French, Lecourbe was master of the summit
and the valley by which he had ascended ; but this important
passage was reconquered in little more than a month by the
Russian army under Suwaroff, who crossed the Saint Gothard
to effect a junction with the Austrians. When he descended
to Andermatt, he found that the Urnerloch had been blocked
up, the rocks in the descent to the bridge blasted and strewn
in the path, part of the bridge blown up, and other obstacles
thrown in the way of his advance ; but the Russians, rendered
desperate by hunger and resistance, re-opened the gallery,
and repaired the bridge, by throwing beams across, and lashing
them together with the officers' scarfs. Hundreds of soldiers
fell, in the struggle, into the abyss of the Reuss, before the
Russians drove the French from their position, and descended
into the valley between the Urnerloch and Goschenen.

From the Devil's Bridge to Goschenen the valley is dreary
and savao'e. The Reuss is twice crossed before it reaches
Goschenen : in its course thither it descends with so much
noise, as it dashes over and among the rocks, that it has
given to this part of the valley the name of the Krachenthal.
Enormous masses of granite lie ill the bed of the torrent and
on the sides of the mountains. Not far from Goschenen there

-

THE MONT SAINT GOTHARD. 57

is an immense block, which the people of the valley say the
devil dropped there.* At Goschenen, the traveller, after
having crossed a mountain-torrent which flows by the village,
enters upon a good carriage-road that conducts to Altorf.
Below Goschenen the road passes heneath forests of pines, and
through villages surrounded by cultivation. There are some
fine points of view in descending to Amstag, principally from
a part of the road that rises high above the Reuss, which is
seen foaming at the base of a well-wooded ravine : in the back-
ground of this fine scene is the lofty and beautiful form of the
Windgelle mountain. Soon after passing the torrent of the
Mayerbach, which descends from the Susten Alp, the traveller
crosses the Reuss at the Pfaffensprung,f a bridge of ninety
feet span, at a great height above the torrent: the situation is
striking, but from no point picturesque. Thence through
Amstag, a village at the base of the Windgelle, to Altorf, the
road is excellent, but without much interest ; the valley
becomes richer in wood, particularly in walnut-trees ; it is
everywhere well cultivated, and the soil is very productive. J

Altorf has associated with it some of the noblest recollec-
tions of Switzerland and the Swiss. The struggle for freedom
from the tyranny of the house of Hapsburg, though contem-
plated by the people of the Waldstetten, commenced here in
the courage of William Tell, much of whose history it is
now fashionable to consider a fiction. The author is unwil-
ling to l>e robbed of the pleasure which he feels in believing
it to be true : it is asserted to be a tale of an earlier time
than Tell ; but this is no evidence against the story : such an
event was as likely to have twice happened as once ; and if

* Plate the Fifth.

•f Every extraordinary situation in the Alpine districts has its tale of romance.
The Pfaffensprang (the monk's leap) owes its names to the fact, that a monk, escaping
with a damsel whom he was carrying off, leaped across this gulf with his prize.

I Before arriving at Altorf, the traveller crosses the torrent which descends from
the Val Schachen, of which the inhahitants are said to be the finest race of people in
Switzerland. Nearly opposite to the embouchure of the Schachen is the village of
Attinghausen, by which a road passes over the Surenen Alps to the valley of Engleberg.

no. rv. i

58 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

such a circumstance as that of the apple had previously
occurred, it probably suggested the cruel condition offered by
Gesler to Tell. A tower in Altorf, which bears the name of
Tell's tower,* is said to occupy the spot upon which formerly
stood the lime-tree against which the child of Tell was placed.
The subject is painted on the tower : and wherever Tell is
represented in sculpture, or in painting, the bow and the apple
are considered necessary emblems. But perhaps the best
evidence of its truth is found at the Tellenplatte, the rock upon
which Tell leapt, when he escaped froni the boat of Gesler.
The rock is situated at the foot of the Achsenberg, and a
short distance from Fluelen, a little village, the port of Altorf,
which is situated at the southern extremity of the Lake of
Uri. Upon this rock, thirty years after Tell's death, which
happened in 1358, a chapel was built to commemorate the
event of Tell's escape, and a series of pictures in fresco on the
wall represent the principal events of his life. Shooting at the
apple on his son's head is one of the series. In the year of the
completion of this chapel, 1388, at the general assembly of the
people, there were present one hundred and fourteen persons
who had known Tell during; his life : these would not have
allowed a falsehood to be recorded to aid, by the addition of
romance, the immortal reputation of their compatriot. f

From Fluelen to Locarno is about twenty-eight leagues,
and the communication by the Saint Gothard is so con-
siderable, that fifteen thousand persons annually, and three
hundred horses or mules laden with merchandise, pass
weekly the hospice on the summit. Saussure states, that a
thousand laden horses pass daily. This must be erroneous,

* End Vignette.

f Siniond, in his interesting and generally accurate work on Switzerland, says,
(vol. i. p. 192), that the floor of the chapel is not more than three feet above the water ;
and, as the chapel is never injured by the stonns on the lake, asks his readers to form
an estimate of such tempests. The floor of the chapel is more than twelve feet above
the lake ; and Simond seems to have forgotten his own comments upon Swiss boat-
building, page 22 of the same volume. Certainly, if the bark of Gesler was like the
wretched boats which now ply on the lake of the Waldstetten, a little storm would
occasion great danger.

--HctIoh

■

THE MONT SAINT GOTHARD. 59

or the commercial intercourse between Italy and Switzer-
land, by the Saint Gothard, has greatly fallen off; certainly
the intercourse has been, lessened in consequence of the new
roads by the Splugen and the Bernardin having offered greater
facilities to merchants. The people of the Waldstetten have
felt this, and it has induced them to decide upon completing
the pass of the Saint Gothard as a carriage-road.

An impenetrable obscurity veils the early accounts of the
pass of the Saint Gothard, and leaves it uncertain whether
it was even in the country of the Lepontii. Cassar, Pliny.
Strabo, and Ptolemy, mention this people, but in terms so vague
and contradictory, that modern authors are at a loss to draw
even probable inferences from them. Ca?sar and Ammianus
say, that the Rhine rises in the country of the Lepontii; Strabo
confounds these people with the Rhetii ; Pliny states, that they
border on the source of the Rhone ; and Ptolemy writes of a
town of the Lepontii in the Cottian Alps ; but he also mentions
Mount Adula, as another name by which the Lepontian Alps
were known. Puzzled by these conflicting statements, some
modern authors appear to have considered the pass of the
Saint Gothard as a line of demarcation between the Rhetii
and the Lepontii. The author, resting upon the authority of
Simler, believes that the present pass of the Saint Gothard lay
directly through the country of the Lepontii. The learned old
Swiss appears to have investigated the subject with more tact
and local knowledge than any other author. It is very pro-
bable, that the name of the Yal Levantine has been derived
from the Lepontians.

The early history of the passes of the Alps, by which the
Cimbri and other early northern invaders descended into
Italy, is as obscure as the geographical boundaries of their
states. By many it has been considered that the bordes of
barbarians which were defeated by Alarms descended the Saint
Gothard : it is probable that this was one of their passes ; and in
this opinion Denina follows Plutarch. But the numerous armies
which descended from the north into Italy appear to have crossed

60 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

by the Rhetian, the Carnatic, and other Alps, as well as those
of the Saint Gothard. There is less uncertainty in the direc-
tion which the Alemauni took in their invasion of Italy in
the fifth century: as they were defeated by Majorian in the
Canipi Cannini, or valley of Bellinzona, it is highly probable
that they descended by the pass of the Saint Gothard.*

The origin of the present name of this mountain, Saint
Gothard, has been as perplexing as its early history : some,
deriving it from the Celtic words got and arth, suppose that
it owed its name to the worship of a divinity on this high
mountain; others derive it from the Goths, who, when they
were driven out of Italy, in the sixth century, established
themselves in the valleys of the canton of Uri ; but the most
probable origin of the name is from a chapel dedicated to
Saint Gothard, who was a bishop of Hildesheim in the twelfth
century, in honour of whom the abbots of Dissentis raised a
chapel on these heights, which were within their jurisdiction.
What is known concerning this pass in the dark ages, has been
preserved chiefly in the archives of the convent of Dissentis.

The truly heroic a°;e of Switzerland was that in which the
virtuous and patriotic leaguers delivered their country from the
tyranny of the house of Hapsburg and the control of the em-
pire, from 1308 to 1476. Soon after this period, the people of
the Waldstetten, elated with their success, and conscious of their
strength, began not only to embroil themselves in quarrels with
their neighbours, but ultimately to hire themselves as soldiers
to serve any foreign government, requiring little excitement to
war and outrage beyond the hope of gaiu : they were always
prepared to draw the sword for pay ;f and when their services
were purchased by contending parties, it sometimes happened

* Gibbon says by the Rhetian Alps, in a note expressive of bis contempt for the
degenerated Romans, who could boast of a victory over nine hundred barbarians.

"j" This mercenary feeling has yet too much encouragement, and still dishonours
the Swiss. The author of this work, on his journey in Switzerland in 1S25, passed, on
the Lago Maggiore and the route of the Saint Gothard, many detachments of young
recruits, part of a regiment raised in Switzerland for the service of Naples, and these
were principally from the country of Tell ! Other regiments are still found in the
service of Ferdinand of Spain ! in France, and in Germany.

THE MONT SAIXT GOTH ARC 61

that Swiss were opposed to Swiss. About this period of their

history, the passes of the Saint Gothard and the Val Levantine
were often the scenes of their contests with the Milanese :
but their character as invincible soldiers was destroyed at
the battles of Marignano and Pa via: the charm was ended by
which they had often conquered ; and though their heroism
was not less, they had suffered such repeated defeats, from
soldiers as brave and well disciplined as themselves, that their
blood was no longer worth the price which had been paid for
it : and they returned defeated, and driven from an infamous
course to the honourable employment of cultivating then- soil.
Three hundred years of peace followed ; and, except the
occasional employment of some regiments on foreign service,
little is heard of the military history of the Swiss until the
invasion of their healths by the French at the end of the
eighteenth century, when all that bravery and desperation
coidd effect was done by them; but they sunk before the
armies and the infamous policy of the French Directory. The
sufferings which were inflicted upon the Swiss, and the miseries
which they were compelled to endure during several campaigns,
whilst their country was the seat of war and violence, harrow
the feelings in the recital. A note of Comte Dumas, sur
V Invasion de la Suisse, in the Precis des Erenemens Militaires,
too long for insertion here, should be read by every one
interested in the history of Switzerland, as presenting an
expose of that infamous outrage by the French, which he has
had the boldness, though a Frenchman, to record. At the very
time when this outrage was perpetrated, and they were upon
terms of amity with the Swiss, the Directory resolved upon
" l'invasion d'une terre hospitaliere. le dernier asile des moeurs
antiques, le sejour favori de la liberte ; et livrerent a toutes les
horreurs de la guerre un peuple, dont la franchise, la bravonre,
et la loyaute, avaient ete justement celebrees dans tous les
temps." Simond, in his excellent sketch of this eventful period,
in the second volume on Switzerland, gives the following from
a narrator of some of the occurrences of that period in the \ al

62 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

Levantine: — "Towards the end of October 1798, we were
visited for the first time by foreign troops ; a division of eight
thousand French having passed the Saint Gotliard, already
covered with snow, appeared unexpectedly in the Levantina.
We had no stock of pi'ovisions beyond what was necessai-y for
our own subsistence during the approaching winter ; yet were
compelled to feed this multitude for a while, and permanently
a garrison of three or four hundred men stationed at Airolo.
Men and women, and all the cattle, were employed, without
any salary, in transporting military stores during the whole
winter. Early in March following, the passage of the whole
army, penetrating into the Grisons, brought an increase of
fatigue, losses, and dangers; and many perished." These poor
people were sufferers whichever party was successful. Between
the two they were spared by neither ; their country was the seat
of war for above three years, during which time they were
compelled to endure loss of property, forced labour, and severe
privation. They were stigmatized as rebels if they murmured,
and punished if they resisted. Many abandoned for ever this
land of malediction ; others died of absolute want.

After the forcible possession of Switzerland by the French,
she was governed by a constitution under the Acte de Mediation,
subjected to the obligation of furnishing a large contingent of
troops for the service of France. The self-elected mediator was
Buonaparte, whose downfal was the signal for her delivery
from the bondage of France. Since the restoration of the
Helvetic diet, and the integrity of Switzerland as a nation, her
policy has been directed to the organisation of her resources,
and to guard against any future violation of her territory.

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i///' 2T0 ILLUSTRATE TSE ROUTE FROM. MARTIGNY TO IVREA BY TILE GREAT S! BERNARD.

ROUTE

MARTIGNY TO IVREA

PASS OF THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD.

There is uo passage of the Alps which affords to the traveller
greater pleasure, either in the enjoyment or the recollection of
his journey to Italy, than that hy the Great Saint Bernard ;
for besides the wildness of this Alpine pass, and the beauty of
the valley of Aosta, through which the road to Turin continues
after it leaves the mountains, the kind reception which he ex-
periences froni the religious community at the hospice, on the
summit of the Saint Bernard, is remembered as long as he can
be grateful for the devotion which induces these excellent men
to offer to the traveller their welcome, and spread for him their
hospitality in the wilderness.

The road which conducts to the Pennine Alps, or the Great
Saint Bernard, from the valley of the Rhone, commences near
the confluence of this river with the Drance, at Martigny, a
town of importance in early history, as Octodurum, the capital
of the Yeragri, a people of the Yalais, against whom Sergius
Galba was sent by Julius Caasar to check the outrages and rob-
beries which they, together with the Nantuates who inhabited
the valley below Saint Maurice, and the Seduni, a people of the
Yalais between Yisp and Sion, committed upon the merchants
who, even at this early period, traversed the Pennine Alps.*

* It is highly probable that the passage by the Great Saint Bernard was not the
only one guarded by Galba, though Octodurum was his head-quarters in commanding
the Pennine Alps ; for this name was given to the range of mountains from the Great
Saint Bernard to the Simplon, which includes the passes from Italy into the Yalais
which are above the station of Galba, those of the Simplon and the Mont Moro. This
Alpine pass lies between Visp in the Valais and the Val Anzasca in Piedmont, and
the remains of an old road may be clearly traced over the Moro. The Val Anzasca

NO. VI.

64 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

Bourrit says that the encampment of Galha may still he
traced at Martigny, but this is uncertain and improbable, though
numerous relics remain of the importance of Octodurum, when
it was a Roman station. Upon the appointment of a Christian
prelate in the Valais, in the fourth century, he bore the title of
bishop of Octodurum. Two hundred years later the see was
removed to Sion, but the title was continued. The subsequent
history of the Valaisans presents few periods of relief from the
outrages which were practised upon the people during the long
struggle of the bishops of Sion for temporal power against the feu-
dal lords of the Valais. The scene from the old castle of Mar-
tigny is very fine, partic ularly looking up the valley of the Rhone.*
In this direction the view extends to the Mont Saint Gothard ;
down the valley the scene is bounded by the Jura, and in the
direction of the mountains of the Great Saint Bernard, the eye
commands the town of Martigny, and the estuary of the Drance.

To ascend to the pass of the Great Saint Bernard, it is neces-
sary, after leaving the inn at Martigny, where travellers usually
rest, to traverse the Bourg, a narrow dirty village about half a
league distant. A little beyond this place the river Drance is
crossed, and the road proceeds along its left bank. Soon after
passing the river, a path on the right leads over the Forclaz to

was distinguished very early for its mines of iron, copper, and gold. Strabo and Pliny
both mention the gold mines of the Ictymidi, whose locality the author thinks, though
D'Anville and Cluverius place it in Upper Yal Sesia, is preserved in the name of Pie
de Muliera, a town at the entrance of the Yal Anzasca, where the gold ore is reduced
which is still raised in the mines of the valley. Pliny states that a law existed among
the Ictvmuli, which forbade their employing more than five thousand men in the gold
mines ; this is evidence of an important commerce in their valley, which probably led
to frequent communication with the people of the Valais. Without admitting this
it is difficult to understand why Galba should have attacked the Seduni as well as the
Veragri, and have taken many of their forts. They could not have offered any inter-
ruption to travellers by the Great Saint Bernard, as they were a people of the Valais
far above the valley of the Drance.

* Plate the First. The old castle, in a commanding situation above La Batia, the
village near Martigny through which the route to the Simplon passes, was built by
Pierre of Savoy, to command and oppress the wretched Valaisans, who were within the
reach of his power. This chateau was subsequently possessed by the bishops of Sion,
and the inhabitants of Martigny have horrible traditions associated with it. The
round tower has a dungeon of great depth, with which there is no communication
except through a hole in the stone floor above it ; the heart recoils from the sound
and emotion, which a stone dropped into it from the chamber above produces.

i

THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. 65

Chamouny. The road up the valley of the Drance rises high
ahove the stream ; but there is nothing interesting in this part of
the route. After passing through the miserable village of Bou-
vernier, the road crosses the river, and descends to the bed of
the valley ; in one part this is so narrow, that a gallery has been
cut in the rock, through which the road is continued. A little
beyond this gallery, the river is again crossed near to where the
thick walls of a house remain which the dreadful inundation of
the Drance in 1818 did not entirely remove. These ruins stand
there like an object of malediction. The height which the tor-
rent obtained on that fearful occasion, is seen in the desolate
and ruined state of the valley ; vast blocks of stone, which were
driven and deposited there by the force of that inundation, strew
the valley, and sand and pebbles present an arid surface where
rich pasturages were seen before the catastrophe. The quantity
of the water suddenly discharged from the lake which had been
formed, and the velocity of its descent, is a measure of force
which it is difficult to conceive.*

At Saint Branchier, the route to the Great Saint Bernard
leaves the valley of Bagnes and enters the Val d'Entremont,
where the traveller is relieved by rich pasturages, froni the
desolation and dulness which have hitherto accompanied him
from Martigny. At Orsiere, the first village in the Val d'Entre-
mont, a path on the right leads to Carmayeur, by the Col de
Ferret, and to the Great Saint Bernard, by the Col de Fenetres.
To continue the route by the Val d'Entremont, the river, called
the Drance of Saint Bernard, is crossed, and the road ascends on
the right bank to the next village, Liddes, which is half-way to
the convent from Martigny. At Liddes refreshment may be
had, the chars from Martigny are left, and mules are usually
hired there to continue the journey to the Great Saint Bernard. f

* In half an hour five hundred and thirty millions of cubic feet of water passed
through the breach in the dyke of ice and snow which formed the lake; in five times
greater quantity, and with five times greater velocity, than the waters of the Rhine at
Basle, where the river is one thousand three hundred English feet wide. Of this
calamitous event the best account is by M. Escher de Lenth, published in the Bib.
Univ. de Geneve Sci. et Arts, torn. 8, p. 281.

t If the traveller merely visit the convent, he returns to Liddes the next day, and
NO. V. K

66 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

Bourg Saint Pierre is a village of great antiquity, in proof
of which numerous relics and inscriptions are preserved there.*
A fine cascade in the neighbourhood is an object usually visited
by travellers. On leaving the village, to ascend the valley, the
road passes through an old gatef which is situated on the brink
of a ravine of great depth, across which a bridge is thrown : its
removal would render access to Saint Pierre extremely difficult
on the side of the Great Saint Bernard. Beyond the village the
valley assumes a character of wildness and savage grandeur. In
the forest of Saint Pierre the path winds among old pines and
larches, and over and between rocks, which prohibit all means
of passing except to the foot of the traveller or his mule ; and,
beyond the forest, the plain of Prou is seen bounded by lofty
mountains, glaciers, and the highest peak of the Saint Bernard,
the Mount Velan ;J the river passes at too great a depth beneath
the traveller's feet to be heard, and the whole scene is silent and
desolate. These narrow and rugged paths were the chief obsta-
cles to the conveyance of the mounted artillery of the army of
Napoleon in its extraordinary passage of this mountain in 1800.§

Soon after leaving the forest of Saint Pierre a few scat-
tered and stunted larches mark the boundary of their vegeta-
tion, above these, the rhododendron holds the chief rank, but
this ceases to struggle with the soil and temperature before it
attains the elevation of the hospice. On traversing the plain
de Prou, the glacier of Menoue which streams from Mount

resumes his char ; if he proceed to Aosta, his mule is usually hired for Saint Renry, as
another mule cannot be procured at the convent, except from the chance of one
returning ; it is, however, absolutely necessary for travellers from Liddes or Saint
Reniv, the two nearest stations to the convent, to take with them corn or hay, as these
articles are too carefully preserved for the mules of necessitous travellers in winter,
to be furnished from the stores of the convent at a favourable season. When mules
are not thus provided, they are always sent for the night to the nearest station, usually
Saint Remy, on the side of Piedmont.

* Among these is a military column dedicated to the younger Constantine, which,
de Rivaz says, replaced a statue of Jupiter that was on the summit of the pass of the
Great Saint Bernard, but which was destroyed by Constantine about the year 339.

t End Vignette. X Plate the Second.

§ Of that great event, one incident, in which Napoleon had a narrow escape, may
be mentioned here : in a dangerous part of the road, near the termination of the forest
of Saint Pierre, he slipped from his mule on the snow, but he was saved from falling
over by his guide, who caught him by the coat, and thus preserved him. The guide,
who was a peasant, was rewarded with a thousand francs.

■ ■ i

GMLTPffl ®W .

-;

THE GREAT SAIXT BERXARD. 67

Velan is a fine object. Beyond the plain of Prou, the valley
is ascended by a steep and dangerous path where the traveller
is exposed to avalanches during the winter and spring. It is
here that many of the victims to the storms of these" regions
are found, and two chalets have been built, the one to shelter
the living, the other as a receptacle for the dead. These
chalets are called l'h6pital. This spot is regularly visited in
the dangerous season, by the brethren of the convent, then-
servants, or their dogs, to search for and assist unfortunate
travellers, and to leave some refreshment at one of the chalets.
Before arriving at the convent, the traveller recrosses the
river on the Pont de Nudri, and then ascending by an abrupt
path traverses a bed of snow, which few seasons are favourable
enough to melt ; here the roof of the convent is visible, and in
ten minutes he receives the cheerful and welcome reception of
the monks of Saint Bernard at their dwelling in the clouds,*
where they exercise a general hospitality without regard to
the religion or the country of those whom they assist, and
voluntarily engage themselves, by vow, to devote their lives to
the succour of those who traverse the desert which they inhabit.
The convent is massive, strong, and adapted to its perilous
situation, on the very crest of the passage, where it is exposed
to tremendous storms from the north-east and south-west; in
other directions it is sheltered by the mountains Chenelletaz and
Mont-Mort, for the name of Saint Bernard, like that of the
Saint Gothard, is given to the passage, and not to anv parti-
cular mountain. The chief building is capable of accommo-
dating sixty or eighty travellers with beds; three hundred may
be assisted and sheltered, and between five and six hundred
persons have received assistance in one day. Besides the chief
building, there is a house on the other side of the road which
is generally used as an establishment for the domestics.f

• The convent is situated eight thousand two hundred English feet above the
level of the sea.

t This house is of modern construction, it was built as a place of refuse in case
of fire, which had twice already happened since the foundation, and to receive neater
numbers than the convent could before accommodate. It bears the name°of the
Hotel de Saint Louis, which was given in compliment to the kings of France whose
protection had often been extended to this establishment.

68 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

The entrance to the convent is attained by a flight of steps
leading to what may be considered the first floor, which is
better adapted for access in the winter, when the snow not only
lies seven or eight feet deep around the convent, but often
the drifts rise nearly to the roof. The ground-floor is used for
stables, and store-rooms for wood, &c. The entrance at the
steps leads by a corridor to various offices, and on the floor
above, another corridor communicates with the refectory, the
separate chambers of the religieux, and extensive accommoda-
tions for travellers, in which the neatness and comfort of the
arrangements add greatly to an Englishman's enjoyment of
his reception. One chamber is devoted to visitors, which may
be considered the draicing-room of the establishment; it has
its elegancies, — a piano-forte, books, prints, and pictures, which
have been presented by travellers. A cabinet is attached to
this chamber, which contains collections made by the monks,
of the plants and minerals of the Great Saint Bernard, and
many relics from the ruins of the temple of Jupiter on this
mountain; these consist of votive tablets and figures, in bronze
and other metals; arms, and corns, — among these there is a
gold coin of Lysimachus in fine preservation. The eastern
ends of the corridors communicate with the chapel, where
conventual service is regularly performed.*

Strangers are generally surprised upon their arrival at the
convent, by the youth of the religieux ; not a member of the
community, consisting of twelve or fourteen, who reside at the
convent, appears to have attained the age of forty : they enter
upon their duties at eighteen, and vow a devotion of fifteen
years to active benevolence in these dreary regions, where but
few are robust enough to accomplish their vows and endure the
severity of the winters,f without feeling its effects in broken

* In the chapel is a monument of Desaix, who fell at Marengo ; it was placed
here by order of Buonaparte, and the medal which was struck in commemoration,
records that he laid the first stone.

■j" In the summer of 1816 the ice of the lake on the summit of the Great Saint
Bernard never melted, and not a week passed without snow falling. The severest
cold recorded was twenty-nine degrees below zero of Fahrenheit, it has often been
observed at eighteen and twenty degrees below : the greatest heat has been sixty-
eight degrees of Fahrenheit, but in the height of summer it always freezes early in
the morning.

THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. 69

constitutions and ruined health. The religious order of the
monks of Saint Bernard is that of Saint Augustine.*

Visitors universally acknowledge the kind and courteous
attention which they receive from these excellent men,
particularly at table ; they are freely communicative re-
specting their establishment, and conversation has no restraint
but in the respect which their characters demand. The
language used by them is French, though there are Italians
and Germans among them : they are well informed upon
most subjects, and intelligent upon those in which their situa-
tion has been favourable to their acquiring information. The
periodical works of some academic bodies and institutions are
sent to them, and they have a small library which is chiefly
theological. During their short summer, their intercourse with
well-informed travellers is extensive; this gives to their in-
quiries a propriety, and an apparent interest in the affairs of
the world. A report had prevailed that the funds of the con-
vent had suffered much upon the fall of Buonaparte, who had
especially patronised the establishment. In reply to inquiry
upon the subject, the prior informed the author, that their
funds were in a flourishing condition, that Xapoleon rather
impoverished than enriched them; it was true that he had
assisted them with donations, but his claims upon their funds
had exceeded these benefits, that they had had forty men
quartered upon them for months together, and sixty thousand
had passed in one season, and all these had been assisted. Their
funds, he said, from the facilities which peace gave to travelling,
were now increasing, as visitors to the convent, who can afford
it, are usually donors ; the money is always dropt into a box
in the chapel, and is rarely less than the parties would have
been called upon to pay at an inn.

Under eveiw circumstance in which it is possible to render as-
sistance, the worthy religieux of Saint Bernard set out upon their

* The distinguishing badge in their costume is a very narrow white band or scarf,
which by a slit is passed round the neck, and the ends are put before and behind
within a girdle which goes round the waist. The dress is a black cloth robe which
reaches nearly to the ankle, and buttons in front from top to bottom, a black conical
cap with a tuft at the top completes the costume, which is gentlemanly and
becoming.

70 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

fearful duty, una wed by the storm, and obeying a higher power ;
they seek the exhausted or overwhelmed traveller, generally
accompanied by their dogs, whose sagacity will often detect the
victim, though buried in the snow. The dogs also, as if con-
scious of a high duty, will roam alone through the day and night
in tbese desolate regions, and if they discover an exhausted
traveller, will lie on him to impart warmth, and bark or howl
for assistance.* The system of purveyance for the hospice
appears to be well regulated ; supplies come from Aosta and the

* Sometimes the members or domestics of the convent have been sufferers in
their efforts to save others. On the 17th of December, 1825, three domestics of the
convent, with two dogs, descended to the vacherie, on the Tiedmontese side of the
mountain, and were returning with a traveller, when an avalanche overwhelmed
them. All perished except one of the dogs, which escaped by its prodigious strength,
after having been thrown over and over. Of the poor victims, none were found until
the snow of the avalanche had melted in the returning summer, when the first was
discovered on the 4th of June, and the last on the 7th of July. One of these unfor-
tunates was Victor, a fine old domestic, whom the author well remembers on his
first visit to the convent in 1824. There is one scene of melancholy interest usually
visited on the Saint Bernard — the morgue, or receptacle for the dead. It is a low
building a few yards from the eastern extremity of the convent, where the bodies of
the unfortunate victims to storms and avalanches in these mountains have been
placed. They have generally been found frozen, and put into this horrid receptacle
in the posture in which they perished. Here many have " dried up and withered,"
and on some even the clothes have remained after eighteen years ; others present a
horrid aspect, some of the bones of the head being blanched and exposed, whilst
black integuments still attach to parts of the face. Among the latest victims were
a mother and child. The air passed freely through the grated windows, without
bearing to the nostrils of the observer the foul evidence of its transition through
this dreadful place. From the rapid evaporation at this height, the bodies had dried
without the usual decay. In a walled enclosure on one side of the morgue was a
great accumulation of bones, white, broken, and apparently the gathering of cen-
turies. Upon this rocky and frozen soil they could not bury the dead, and probably,
as they dry up without offence, they are placed here for the chance of recognition.
Some additions to this sepulchre are annually made, for the perilous passage by this
route during the winter is more frequently undertaken than is generally imagined ;
many are prompted by the necessity or urgency of their affairs, at this season, to
traverse the mountain ; they are generally pedlars and smugglers, who travel in
defiance of storms and avalanches. In these high regions the snow forms and falls
in small particles which congeal so soon and so hard, that they do not attach and
form flakes in descending ; and instead of consolidating beneath the pressure of the
feet of the traveller, the snow rises around him like powder, and he sinks to his
middle : whirlwinds, called tourmentes, raise the snow in dust ; unable then to dis-
cover his path, he falls over some precipice. The avalanches, too, have numerous
victims ; those of spring are occasioned by the submelting of the snow, which
undermines their support. The winter avalanches are produced by the accumula-
tions of snow on the steep sides of the mountains, which, having little cohesion, at
length become heavy enough to exceed the supporting power, when enormous masses
slide off into the valleys beneath, with a suddenness and violence which the prior at
the convent compared to the discharge of a cannon-ball ; these render the approach
to the hospice, particularly on the side of the Valais, very dangerous.

THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. 71

neighbouring villages. Wood for firing is one of the most im-
portant articles, as not a stick grows within a league and a half,
and all the wood which is supplied to the convent is brought
from the forest of Ferret, a distance of nearly four leagues.*
The scene from the western end of the hospice, looking towards
Italy, is sterile and dreary; patches of snow are seen on the
sides of the mountains, which sweep down to the lake ; and
the Pain de Sucre, a pinnacled mountain on the other side of
the vacherie, with its rocks and snows, add to the wildness and
desolation.f A column, opposite to the middle of the water,
marks the boundary of Piedmont and the Valais; above and
beyond it, is the little plain of Jupiter, where a temple formerly
stood, \ and from which a Eoman road led down on the Pied-
montese side of the pass. This road may be easily traced in the
hewn rock, and the remains of a massive pavement, but not a
vestige of the temple is left above the surface. The name of this
mountain, or rather of this range of the Pennine Alps, is
generally admitted to be of Celtic origin, froni pen or pen n, a
height,§ and not from the Pceni, who crossed the Alps with

* The consumption of wood is considerable, for at the great elevation of the hospice,
water boils at about one hundred and ninety degrees, which is so much less favourable
for the concoction of meat than at two hundred and twelve degrees, that it requires
nearly five hours to effect that, which, at the higher temperature, may be done in three
hours. Some saving has been lately effected in the economy of their fires, by con-
ducting hot air in tubes through the convent.

t Plate the Third.

X The period of the foundation of the temple of Jupiter, which was formerly on
the summit, is unknown ; but many of the bronze votive tablets, which have been
found in its ruins, appear to be of great antiquity ; they were placed in the temple
and on the altars by travellers, in gratitude for escape from perils in their journey
across these Alps ; some are inscribed to Jupiter, others to the god Penninus. This
difference probably arose from the nation of the devotee, for when the Romans became
acquainted with this pass, the worship of Jupiter for that of Penninus was a change
only in name, and Penninus was preserved with that of Jupiter long after the Romans
had extended their conquests beyond these Alps. The religion, if not the temple, had
long been established upon these heights ; from the fragments, however, which have
been found in the temple, it appears to have been a Roman work of a time probably
not earlier than that of Augustus. The period of the substitution of a military column
for the statue of Jupiter, under the younger Constantine, in the year 339, was probably
not that of the destruction of the temple, for medals of the children of Theodosius,
fifty years later, have been found there. It has been conjectured by Chretien de Loges,
in his "Essais Historiques sur le Mont Bernard" that it was destroyed by the Huns
and Vandals during their ravages, for it was not in existence when the Lombards
passed the Alps in 574.

§ This term is still preserved in Cornwall and Wales, as Pendennis, Pewmaenmawr.

72 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

Hannibal. The territories of the Veragri extended to the
summit of this pass, which was the barrier between them and
the Salassi, a people of the Yal d'Aosta. On this mountain,
Livy states that the Veragri worshipped a god of the Alps,
Penninus, or Jupiter Penninus, and one of the earliest
names for this passage of the Alps, was Mons Jovis, or
Mons Jovis Penninus ; this was Gallicised into Mont Joux,
by which it was generally known before it acquired that of
Saint Bernard.

The first foundation of the hospice has been attributed by
some to Louis the Debounaire, by others to Charlemagne,
whose uncle Bernard, an illegitimate son of Charles Martel,
led a division of the invading army of Charlemagne over the
Great Saint Bernard, when he went to attack Lombard}-. The
present name of the pass, Saussure supposes, might have been
derived from this Bernard; but there was another of the name,
an illegitimate son of Pepin, to whom Charlemagne left the king-
dom of Italy. To him may rather be attributed the original
establishment of the hospice, from the interest which he would
have in preserving the communication with Gaul by this pass-
age of the Alps, and with it have given his name, for there
is historical evidence that a monastery existed on the Great
Saint Bernard before the year 851 ;* but its history at this
period is obscm-e, because in the year 890 it was devastated
by Arnaud, who destroyed the monuments and records.

The present hospice was founded in 962, by Bernard,
who was born of a noble family of Savoy, at the chateau of
Menthon, on the Lake of Annecy. A determination at an early
age to devote himself to an ecclesiastical life induced him to
desert his home and go to Aosta, of which city he afterwards
became archdeacon. A coincidence of his name with that of the
monaster}- probably influenced his determination to re-establish

* Siniler mentions that Hartniann, abb6 and almoner of Mont Joux, who was
made at that time bishop of Lausanne, had been chief of the monastery. De Rivaz
mentions even an earlier abbe of this convent, Vultgaire, in 832 ; and the annals of
Bertin state, that Lothaire the Second, king of Lorraine, in 859, made a treaty with
his brother, the emperor, Louis the Second, by which he ceded to him Geneva,
Lausanne, and Sion, but reserved particularly Vhdpital du Saint Bernard, which
proves, says Saussure, the importance of this passage, and the name which it bore.

THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. 73

the hospice on Mont Joux, of which he became the chief. He
founded at nearly the same time the hospice on the Little Saint
Bernard, and gave to them the name, and placed them under
the protection, of his favourite saint, Nicolas de Myre, as tute-
lary patron of these establishments ; by degrees the name of the
devotee was joined to that of the saint, and after the canoniza-
tion of Bernard, his name superseded that of all others, and has
continued attached to the hospice since 1123. The attempt of
Constantine to destroy the worship of Jupiter had not entirely
succeeded, but Saint Bernard rooted out the remains of pa-
ganism, and founded an establishment for active benevolence to
which thousands have been indebted. He died in 1008, after
having governed the convent upwards of forty years. For some
time after the death of Saint Bernard, the hospice was exposed to
frequent outrages, from barbarians who traversed the mountains ;
and its records of the eleventh century present a succession
of calamities. The Saracens overran the country, carrying fire
and sword into the Alpine valleys ; the monastery of Mont Joux
was burnt, and its ruins became a station of brigands who plun-
dered or exacted an exorbitant payment from all passengers
through a barrier which they established at the south-west ex-
tremity of the lake. The Normans having determined to expel
these marauders, broke down the barriers, and killed the guard.
Still outrages continued ; and Canute, king of England and
Denmark, among others, complained to the pope and the em-
peror of the horrors and violence committed in the Alps upon
his subjects going on pilgrimages to Rome, who seldom ven-
tured to traverse these mountains, unless in companies of four
or five hundred. His complaints were regarded, the tolls of
the passage were abolished, and Canute, in consequence, wrote
to his bishops and prelates, informing them, that he had
secured the safety of the pilgrims in the route of the Pennine
Alps. The brigands were driven out; good order succeeded
to outrage, and the convent was re-established.* It soon

* In the contests of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa with Pope Alexander III.,
and Humbert, Count of Maurienne, diplomas of protection were given by them to the
convent, for the security of persons and property belonging to the monastery. It was

NO. V. L

74 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

acquired great celebrity and opulence. As early as 1177 it had,
in various diocesses, eighty-eight benefices, in priories, cures,
chateaux, and farms ; it had lands in Sicily, in Flanders, and
in England. Its climax of riches and importance was in 1480,
when it possessed ninety-eight cures alone. Subsequently, how-
ever, the Reformation, political changes in the states, loss of dis-
tant property, disputes with the popes, with the neighbouring
states, and with each other, drove the monks of Saint Bernard to
seek even eleemosynary assistance. The very land upon which
their noble duties are performed has been the subject of disputes
between the neighbouring states. Sardinia claimed it as within
a frontier extending to the bridge of Nudri, on the northern
side ; but the Valaisans established a claim to it as within the
diocess of Sion, by bulls of the popes from Leo IX. to Benoit
XIV. The hospice, therefore, stands within the canton of the
Valais ; but its authority extends only to the middle of the lake,
on the borders of which a column is fixed as a line of demarca-
tion ; and the excellent brethren of Saint Bernard had not only
all their property within the state of Sardinia taken froin them,
but they are actually taxed by this state for the use which they
make of the summer pasturage of the vacherie. Very little
property in land still belongs to the hospice ; a vineyard at
Clarens,* and a farm at Roche, in the Pays de Vaud, are the
principal : these resources are small, and in aid of them col-
lections are regularly made in the Swiss cantons, but this has
been sometimes abused by impostors who have collected as the
agents of the hospice.

On leaving the convent to descend to the valley of Aosta,
the route lies on the borders of the lake, below a path which

one of the very few objects in which emperors, sovereign pontiffs, and other distin-
guished persons, disputed the glory of fostering and protecting a foundation so
important to humanity.

* The 22d note of the Third Canto of Childe Harold contains, to the disgrace of
Lord Byron, a sneer at the establishment on the Saint Bernard, for having, he says,
cut down the "Bosquet de Julie" — "with brutal selfishness, that the ground might
be inclosed into a vineyard for the miserable drones of an execrable superstition ;" he
would thus, for the sake of Rousseau, set the worthlessness of this " Bosquet" against
the utility and value of a vineyard, the most valuable sort of property near the lake
of Geneva, which was to be employed so entirely in. the service of humanity !

THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. 75

on the right hand loads to the plain of Jupiter. At the ex-
tremity of the lake, the road overhangs a stream which issues
from it. At this point a traveller from Aosta first catches a
view of the hospice, buried in a defile formed by the moun-
tains which rise high above the passage, and closed in the
back-ground by Mont Velan.* On leaving this rocky barrier
the road turns abruptly to the right, and sweeps far round to
obtain a gradual descent to the vacherie, the pasturage above
Saint Eemy; the scene is wild, barren, and extensive, and
bounded by the lofty summits of the mountains on the southern
side of the valley of Aosta, it is greatly exposed to storms,
but the contrasts which arise from the weather in Alpine
scenes, is striking ; sometimes, but rarely, it is bright and
cloudless, at others, the clouds lie beneath the traveller's
station, reposing like a zone on the mountain, or midway
overhanging the valleys, presenting the appearance of a tran-
quil lake.f Masses of snow, which are rarely melted, lie on the
side of the Mont-Mort, and fill the ravines and fissures of the
vast basin which forms the vacherie; over these masses of snow
the fearless peasants descend with great swiftness and safety to
the chalets, a transit which saves half an hour in the descent.!

* Title Vignette. f Plate the Fourth.

J It was from this slope that the avalanche descended which overwhelmed poor
Victor and his unfortunate companions. It was also down those beds of snow, much
more extensive in May, the season of his passage, that Napoleon slid with his soldiers,
boldly following the example of some of his troops and encouraging the army, which
had encountered so much difficulty and danger, in its march across these Alps, from
the 13th to the 20th of May, 1800 ; when such an attempt was fraught with danger
from the exposure of the army to avalanches, which in the spring fall frequently in
the narrow and most dangerous parts of the route. The passage of the army under
such circumstances, with its artillery and material, is one of the most stupendous
military events on record. Under the directions of General Marmont, who com-
manded the artillery, and Gassendi, the inspector of the ordnance, the cannon were
dismounted and placed in hollow trunks of trees, and thus dragged up the steep and
dangerous ascents by one half of a battalion, whilst the other half carried their own
and their comrades' arms and accoutrements, with provisions for five days. The gun-
carriages and ammunition wagons were taken to pieces, placed on mules, and thus
conveyed across the mountain. The soldiers were often obliged to walk in single
file, and when the head of a column rested, it checked those behind ; availing them-
selves of the halt, the soldiers refreshed themselves with biscuits steeped in melted
snow, then again advancing, they beguiled their labour and renewed their energies
under the inspiration of national songs.

76 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

From the vaclierie a safe and easy path leads down to Saint
Reray, where chars may he procured for Aosta. The route
helow Saint Eemy is dull and uninteresting, through Saint
Oven and Etroubles; and except a fine peep into the Val
Pellina, from near Gignod, the traveller descends to Aosta
without passing any scene that can interest him. Aosta, for-
merly Augusta Pnetoria, is a place of great antiquity, and
was known as Cordele, the chief city of the Salassi,* who
possessed the valley of Aosta.

The journey from Aosta to Chatillon lies through the most
beautiful part of the valley, it abounds with fine forests and
old chateaux in romantic situations. One of these, the Cha-
teau Quart, a league fi-om Aosta, is seen amidst the woods
on the northern side of the valley ; from it the scene looking
towards Aosta is very beautiful.f There are few of the cas-
tellated ruins, with which this part of the valley abounds,
which will not repay the traveller for the trouble of attaining
them, their situations are so commanding and beautiful. Xuz
and several other picturescpie villages are passed on the road
to Chatillon, a town surrounded by magnificent scenery ;
it is entered over a bridge of a single arch across a deep
ravine, through which the torrent passes, which descends by
the Val Tournanche, from Mont Cervin, to fall a little below
Chatillon into the Doire. Soon after leaving Chatillon the tra-
veller passes through the village of Saint Vincent, near to which
there is a mineral spring, and below it in the road, there is a

* This people was conquered in the seven hundred and twenty-eighth year of
Rome, by Terentius Varro, a general of Augustus ; he reduced the city to ashes, and
turned the stream of the Batier, which descends from the Great Saint Bernard, into
the subterranean retreats of the Salassi, and captured forty-four thousand ; of these
eight thousand were sold at Ivrea. Three thousand soldiers, drawn from the praeto-
rian cohorts, were stationed there ; and the city, after the return of Augustus from
Gaul, was rebuilt and called Augusta Pnetoria. Many Roman remains attest its
former importance, and among these a triumphal arch, which was erected in honour
of Augustus, and in commemoration of his conquests of the people of the Alps.
Time has destroyed an inscription which was on the architrave, but the arch is still
in tolerable preservation. Aosta was erected into a bishopric early in the seventh
century ; in 1093 its seat was occupied by the notorious and haughty Saint Anselm,
afterwards archbishop of Canterbury.

t Plate the Fifth.

THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. 77

bridge called the Pont de Sarrasins of singular form thrown
over a gorge, whence the view up the valley towards Chatillon
and the Chateau d'Usselle is very fine. A little below the
bridge the valley narrows to a defile, formed by the base of
Mont Jovet, and the road, which turns abruptly to the right,
is cut like a lateral furrow out of the rock, which in many
places overhangs the road, whilst towards the ravine, it is
guarded by a wall, beneath which the torrent of the Doire
rushes at a frightful depth. Above the road on the left is the
chateau of Saint Germains.* The road through this defile,
thus cut out of the precipitous side of the rocks, was an early
work of the Romans, but subsequently widened and improved,
at a great expense, by the monks of Saint Bernard, to facili-
tate the communication with their mountains, the access to the
mineral springs of the valley, and the baths of Courmayeur.
An inscription cut in the rock records this service.

About a league and a half below the defile of Mont Jovet,
is the town of Yerres, thence the road continues along the
banks of the Doire, and among scenes of great richness and
beauty to Fort Bard, where the valley narrows rather suddenly.
and the course of the river is through a sorsre formed by vast
rocks which block up the valley, and renders Fort Bard a
military position of great strength. f

* Plate the Sixth.

t When the army of Italy, on its way from the passage of the Great Saint Bernard,
to reap the laurels of Marengo, arrived at Fort Bard, it was cheeked by an Austrian
garrison of four hundred men. The strength of the position may be conceived by the
number placed there to defend it. This check, if effectual, would have been fatal to
the French army ; its rations would have been exhausted in a few days, and sufficient
supplies by the Great Saint Bernard were hopeless. Buonaparte's impatience and
inquietude were excessive. He ordered an assault, the town was entered, but the
street terraced out of the rock, through which the route lay, was commanded almost
within pistol-shot by the fort. The most daring attempts by the French grenadiers
to take the fort were defeated, and an attempt to pass without silencing the batteries
would have been certain destruction. During this affair, however, a party of fifteen
hundred men, though exposed to the fire of the fort, had climbed the rocks and pre-
cipices of the Albaredo, a mountain above the town, and succeeded in conveying, but
with incredible danger and difficulty, a four-pounder to the point of a rock, which
commanded the fort, where it was successful in checking the battery which annoyed
the troops in this ascent. Generals Berthier and Marmont now prepared for passing
through the town with the main army by night ; litter was strewn in the street, and

78 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

The descent from Fort Bard to Donas is short but steep,
and cut out of the rock as at the defile of Mont Jovet, an
arch of rock which has been cut through, a Roman work, still
remains. This part of the road is one of the points of evi-
dence which has been strongly urged in support of the opinion
that Hannibal passed by the Great Saint Bernard. The
tradition is preserved among the inhabitants that Hannibal
passed through this valley, and some early historians state that
an inscription on the side of this road cut in the rock was seen
by them. Luitprand, a bishop of Cremona, in the tenth cen-
tury, says, that he saw entire transitus annibalis ; and Paul
Jovius says, that "there are letters shewn, which are engraved
upon the rocks at Barr, a monument of Hannibal having
passed that way." Such an inscription no longer exists, but
if this evidence be satisfactory of the passage of Hannibal
here, it by no means confirms his passage by the Great Saint
Bernard, for it applies with equal force to the passage of the
Little Saint Bernard, which also leads into Italy by the Val
d'Aosta. From Donas the road descends to Saint Martins, a
town surrounded by high rocks, and where a bold and lofty
arch crosses the torrent which descends from the Monte Rosa
by the Val de Lys. Here the valley of Aosta may be said to
terminate ; the mountains lower, the hills slope down into the
plains of Italy ; and, after passing through Setto Vittone, the
traveller arrives at Ivrea, whence roads branch off to Milan
and to Turin.

the wheels of the cannon and wagons were bound with hay-bands, to deaden the sound
of their passage. A party of soldiers had succeeded in raising a gun into the belfry
of a church which commanded one of the gates of the fort. With the darkness the
march began, but the wary enemy opened a tremendous and destructive fire. Each
gun of the French army was drawn by fifty soldiers, who passed beneath the shot,
grenades, and pots de feu of the Austrians, with as much silence and speed as possible.
Fortunately the gun in the belfry was so efficiently served, that it destroyed the gate
of the fort, which it commanded ; and the Austrians, fearing an immediate assault
at that point, surrendered.

1

-

■

ROUTE

BOTZEN TO MILAN,

THE PASS OF THE MONTE STELVIO.

The great military road over the Monte Stelvio, by which the
Emperor of Austria has recently opened, across the Alps, a
new line of communication between his German and his Italian
states, is a work of great political importance, as it will enable
him, hi case of necessity, to descend directly upon Milan,
without violating the territory or infringing the privileges of
any other government in his line of march.

From Vienna, two roads communicate with Milan by the
Stelvio : one of these leads by Saltzburg, Inspruck, and the
Oberinn-thal, to Nauters, and thence by Mais to Prad ; the
other by Clagenfurt, and through the Puster-thal, enters the
route from Botzen to Inspruck at Brixen, and thence, after
descending the road to Botzen, turns iuto the upper valley
of the Adige, ascends by Meran, and crossing the river by
the bridge of Spandinig, falls into the other road by the
Oberinn-thal at Prad. From Prad the new road is led by
the base of that gigantic mountain of the Tyrol, the Ortler-
spitz, to traverse the Alps at the pass of the Stelvio, thence
it descends to Bormio, and, after following the course of the
Adda through the Valteline to Colico, on the lake of Como,
sweeps along the shores of the Take to Lecco. From this

NO. VI.

80 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

place two roads branch off to Milan ; the one by Monza, the
other by Erba and Como.

The new road is not less interesting to the engineer than
to the politician. The great height to which it was necessary
to carry the road, the summit of the passage being 9091
English feet above the level of the sea, — the nature of the
ground over which it has been constructed, and the narrow
and dangerous denies, now sheltered by galleries, beneath
which the traveller passes in safety, — presented difficulties to
the engineer at least as great as those which opposed the
construction of the routes made by the order of Napoleon.
For the accomplishment of this splendid undertaking, a credit,
not less than that which was awarded to the merit of M. Ceard,
the engineer of the Simplon, is due to Signor Carlo Donegani,
the engineer of the Stelvio ; though his labours will be less
permanent, froni the nature of the road and its exposure to
destruction, particularly in the spring, when the masses of
rock, which are loosened by frost, or detached by avalanches
from the mountains which bound the Pass of the Stelvio,
sweep across the zig-zag terraces of the upper part of the
road.

The scenery throughout the route from Botzen to Milan,
which the author now proposes to illustrate, is rich and varied,
abounding in the sublime, the beautiful, and the picturesque,
from the glaciers of the Ortler- Spitz to the shores of the
lake of Como, and through the rich valleys of the Adige and
the Adda.

Botzen is situated in the former valley, near the confluence
of the Eisach and the Adige, in a little plain of great fertility,
where, beneath the shelter of surrounding mountains, the
pomegranate ripens, and the fruits of northern Italy abound.
In ascending the vale of the Adige to Meran, the richness
of the country, and the luxuriant productiveness of the soil,
cannot fail to attract the attention of the traveller ; and the
old castles, so common in the Tyrol, are in no part of it

'■'■

"Eiigv • ■ ■

THE MONTE STELVIO. 81

more numerous. Almost every rock which projects into the
valley is surmounted with this evidence of the baronial power
of the Middle Ages.

Meran is delightfully situated on the river Passer, near
to its confluence with the Adige, and seems nooked into the
angle which is here formed in the valley of the Adige.
Botzen lies S.S.E. below Meran ; whilst the road through
the valley above this town is continued nearly west : thus
backed on the north and east by lofty mountains, its little
territory is one of the richest in the valley. In the immediate
neighbourhood of Meran is the village of Tyrol, which gives
its name to the country ; it is seen, on the approach to Meran,
overhanging the valley, and it well deserves the sacrifice of
an hour to enjoy the views presented from its site. After
climbing; the richlv wooded side of the hill, and through vine-
yards and pastures, the traveller attains the village ; but the
ground behind the old castle is the spot which well repays him
for the trouble of getting there. Beneath him is spread out
the beautiful valley from Meran to Botzen, which is bounded
in the horizon by the mountains beyond Trent ; and on the
right the upper valley rises to where the vista terminates in
the mountains of the Ortler- Spitz.*

From Tyrol the traveller can descend to the high road,
and proceed up the valley without returning to Meran ; and
from a part of the road, where it skirts a ravine, a little
beyond the path froin Tyrol, the view looking back upon
Meran and Tyrol is very fine.

The ascent of the valley continues with little variety; the
scenes are generally beautiful, and the picturesque is often
aided by the ruins of feudal castles. The road passes beneath
one of these, which frowns immediately over the village of
Gastenbell.f A little beyond this castle the route crosses the
Adige to its right bank, and, after passing through Latsch,

» Plate the First f End Vignette.

NO. VT. M

82 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

recrosses the river to Schlanders. Above this town the height
of the valley is perceptible in the character of its vegetation,
though its productions are still rich and abundant. The
traveller passes numerous villages before he arrives at the
bridge of Spandinig, where he enters upon the road from the
Oberinn-thal by Mais : this bridge, which is one of the works
of the new route by the Stelvio, and constructed of wood, is of
great length, and for military purposes may be wide enough,
but for commercial ones it is certainly too narrow.* The
bridge is, in fact, only nine feet wide, though it is three
hundred feet long : it is difficult to understand the policy or
economy of this disproportion. From the southern side of
the bridge the route passes directly off towards the mountains,
and, after traversing a little plain, enters the deep valley which
leads to the base of the Ortler-Spitz. At a short distance
from the bridge of Spandinig is the village of Prad, where
few accommodations are yet provided for travellers, though
they are necessaiy from the situation of this village, where
the day's journey of those who pass the Stelvio, commences
or terminates. f

Shortly after leaving Prad, the road ascends, and soon
enters a deep and narrow valley to Gomagoi, where a barrier
is established for the examination of passports ; and a little
beyond, the magnificent mountain of the Ortler-Spitz opens
suddenly to the view of the traveller, with a vast and appalling
effect, as it is seen from its extreme summit to its base, robed
in everlasting snows, which descend on its sides in enormous
glaciers, and stream into the valley below the road. Immense
masses of rock, in themselves mountains, throw out their
black and scathed forms, in striking contrast with the bright-

* The charrette in which the author travelled this route was met on the bridge by
another little carriage heavily laden : the bridge was too narrow to allow them to
pass, and it was necessary to detach the author's horse, and lift one vehicle over the
other.

+ The author, in 1826, found it necessary to seek accommodation at Agums, a little
village about a mile from Prad, out of the road, towards Glurns.

THE MONTE STELVIO. 83

ness of the glaciers which they separate. The author con-
siders this part of the route, or rather the whole ascent from
Drofoi, near to which village the Ortler is first seen in
ascending from Prad, as without a parallel in Alpine scenery.
The road, which is here admirably constructed, winds round
the northern side of the deep ravine into which the glaciers
sink, hut so near to them, that, in passing, a stone may, with
little effort, be thrown upon them ; and at the Cantoniere
del Bosco, one of the houses of refuge, the glacier is so
immediately opposite to, and beneath the road, that travellers,
whilst their horses bait, can descend, and examine at ease
and in safety this wonderful production of the Alps.

The last pines are left at this place, and the road now
ascends by a succession of tourniquets, terraced up the moun-
tain-side towards the Col, and presenting a most extraordinary
appearance. There are, from Gomagoi to the summit, nearly
fifty zigzag turns in the road, to make the ascent gradual,
and facilitate its attainment. On the side towards the ravine,
strong palisades of fir-trees assist at once to guard the
traveller and to secure the terraces ; but these are useless
against the avalanches and rocks which fall in the spring ;
and the devastation which these fearful accidents have pro-
duced may be traced in many of the broken palisades, and the
ruins of a house of refuge crushed and overthrown. The
rotferi* after such accidents, clear and repair the roads : but
the disheartening recurrence of these casualties has deter-
mined the Austrian government to attempt cutting a gallery
through the mountain, nine hundred and seventy feet below
the crest of the passage, by which the most exposed part of
the road will be avoided. The scene presented ou looking
back from the summit is inconceivably grand ;f in clear wea-
ther the entire mass of the Ortler- Spitz is exposed to view ;
and beneath it, in the deep ravine, the road is seen winding

* Men who are appointed to repair the roads. f PkUe the Second.

84 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

its way down the mountain-side, until it is lost in the depth
and distance. The summit of this extraordinary pass is the
highest in the world which has heeu made traversable for
carnages ; it is about 2-417 feet higher than the crest of the
passage by the Mont Cenis,* and 780 feet higher than the
estimated line of perpetual snow in the latitude of the Stelvio :
yet the road on the summit is usually clear of snow by the
end of July, and continues so, except fi'om occasional falls,
until September. A house of refuge is built on the highest
point of the passage, and several others are established in con-
venient situations along the road, between Drofoi and Bormio ;
at some of these accommodation and refreshment may be had,
others merely afford shelter. From the summit, the road winds
down by tourniquets to the inn and custom-house on the
Monte Brauglio. Formerly the passage of these Alps, from
the valley of the Adige to the Yalteline, was by the Monte
Brauglio and the vale of Munster, the Juga Bha?tica of Ta-
citus ; but as by this route a small part of the territory of
the Grisons was traversed ; these jealous and independent
mountaineers, resisting the entreaty and bribery of Austria,
refused permission to make a military road through their
country, or to sell this small portion of their inheritance ; and
the emperor was constrained to make his new road through
the valley of Drofoi and over the Stelvio, a col a thousand
feet higher than that of the Brauglio, and where a shepherd's
path had scarcely before been traced, to keep within his own
territories throughout the new line of military communication
between Germany and the Milanese.

The new road derives its name from the village of Stelvi,
or Stilfs, which lies a little out of the road, on its western

* The Baron Von Welden states the height of the col of the Stelvio to be S610
French feet, or 9272 English feet ; and that of the Monte Brauglio to be 8279 English
feet, or 993 below the Stelvio. This would leave the height above the highest part of
the Pass of the Mont Cenis 2598 feet. Or, to convey an idea of the height of the Stelvio
to those who have passed the Simplon, the crest of the Pass of the Stelvio is nearly
half a mile perpendicularly higher than that of the Simplon.

THE MONTE STELVIO. 85

side, near Gomagoi : the Germans have given the name of
the Stilfser-joch to the passage ; it is sometimes, however,
confounded with the pass of the Monte Brauglio, or Wurmser-
jocb, formerly a line of considerable commerce, which led
from the county of Bormio to the Tyrol and the Grisons,
through Santa Maria, and Glurns. At the station of Cara-
bineers, on the Monte Brauglio, where passports are again
examined, a poor inn affords welcome refreshment. Im-
mediately below the station is a small plain which yields
a fine summer pasturage, but it is surrounded by pinnacled
rocks of extremely savage aspect: below this plain, a zigzag
road leads down to the Wurmser-loch, a ravine deep and
appalling, through which the Adda falls from rock to rock.*
The road has been carried high above the left bank of the
river, and constructed with so much care and ability, that
this, which was formerly one of the most dangerous passages
of the Alps, is now rendered secure by galleries, either cut
through the projecting rocks, or constructed in masonry :f
these guard the traveller from the avalanches which fall from
the mountains across the path, or protect him from the
precipices which skirt the road through this fearful passage.
There are six covered ways, formed either by masonry or
excavation, in the ravine; and the extent of the road thus
sheltered is 2226 English feet: in some places, however, the
road is so cut out of the side of the rocks, where their stability
could be relied upon, that, without entirely covering the road,
they shelter it from the avalanches which, after sliding over
the impending rocks, which are left to guard the passage, fall
into the ravine below : in this manner nearly 700 feet more
of guarded way have been added to the galleries within the

* Coxe, who passed through the Wurmser-loch in 1779, speaks, in his seventy-
third letter, in strong language of the horrors of this scene : the appearance of nature
here has scarcely been altered since by the operations of man ; but the safety with
which the traveller is now conducted through these scenes has removed one source
of the sublime.

t Title Vignette.

86 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

defile of the Wurmser-loch. Strong palisades guard the side
of the road next to the precipices, and the traveller proceeds
in perfect safety; hut his passage seems to he bounded by
rocks and mountains of the wildest aspect, and his way out of
the gorge is not apparent, until a sudden turning to the left
opens to his view the means of escape, and within a short
distance he discovers the valley of Bornrio.

A fine road now sweeps down the mountain -side, still
leaving on the right the deep bed of the Adda ; and on
the brink of precipices high above the torrent are seen
the baths of Bormio.* The appearance of these baths
in such a sterile situation is very striking, particularly
from a spot a little below a bridge which has been thrown
over a ravine that crosses the road : this bridge, at the
upper end, terminates in a gallery cut through the rock,
which formerly presented its perpendicular face as a barrier
to the progress of the road : but the science of the modern
engineer has concpiered greater difficulties than these: the
rock has been pierced, a bridge thrown over the ravine, and
the road is now as regularly continued as if these obstacles
had never existed. Bormio f is a place of little actual im-
portance : from its great elevation, though it is rich in
pasturage, the arable land produces only a little barley and
rye. The construction of the Pass of Monte Stelvio has
induced the people of Bormio to hope that their town may
again be benefited by the passage of travellers. It was
formerly enriched by the transit of merchandise from Venice
to the Grisons.

Below Bormio, the road, after traversing the plain towards
the Valteline, crosses the Fredolfo, a river which descends
from the Val Furba, close to its confluence with the Adda;
thence the road continues along the left bank of the Adda,
until it crosses it at the defile of La Serra, which was for-

* Plate the Third.

t Called by the Germans Worms ; whence Wurmser-loch, &c.

THE JIOXTE STELVIO. 87

merly the boundary of the district of Borruio, dividing it on
the south from the Yalteline. This defile was narrow enough
to secure the frontier by a wall, and the passage with a gate
and chain.

Upon leaving the country of Bormio, expressively called
" il freddo paese," the river is recrossed, and the traveller
descends into the Yalteline ; the change is rapid to more
genial vegetation than the pine and the larch : the chestnut
is seen immediately below La Serra; and shortly after, the
vine is observed to be extensively cultivated; there is a
strikingly rich and luxuriant appearance in the valley near
Grosio. The river is passed and repassed before arriving at
Mazza ; and from this place, seven or eight villages, with
their church spires, enliven the rich scene. Near Tirano
the valley widens, the road descends, crosses the river, passes
through the town of Tirano, and traverses the valley to
Madonna, a pleasant little town at the entrance to the valley
of Puschiavo, which leads to the Engadine, by the pass of
the Bernina. There is an excellent inn at Madonna; and
the church is worthy of the inspection of travellers. From
Madonna, the road continues, in its descent to Sondrio, on
the right bank of the Adda, passing through numerous pic-
turesque villages. Owing to the neglect of the embankments
of the river in some places, the levels of the valley are become
swamps, where reeds and grass grow rank, and the marshes
are productive of malaria, — the sickly aspect of the inha-
bitants evinces this; but then- squalid appearance is height-
ened by poverty, and few districts present a more miserable
race of people, afflicted as they are with goitres and cre-
tinism, the concomitants of filth. The inns at Sondrio are
not equal to what might fairly be expected in the chief town
of the Yalteline, and where the intercourse occasioned by
the passage of the Stelvio must frequently demand good
accommodation. In the Piazza Grande of Sondrio is a

88 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

colossal bust, on a pedestal, of Francis the First, Emperor
of Austria.*

The road continues from the Piazza Grande across the
Mallero, a large stream which passes by Sondrio, and flows
into the Adda. The abundant productions of this part of the
valley are well known, and the wine of the Valteline has an
extensive celebrity ; but the vines appear to be ill-trained, and
the vineyards mismanaged. Numerous mulberry -trees are
cultivated for silk-worms ; and the soil is so productive, that
two harvests of Indian and other corn are gathered in the
year.

The Adda is three times crossed in the descent from Son-
drio to Morbegno, whence the road continues on the left of
the river to Colico, on the lake of Como.

On the right of the road, before arriving at Colico, the
traveller passes the ruins of a fort, which was built in 1604
by the Marquess of Fuentes, at a time when this part of the
country was united to the states of Milan. The fort was
built on the hill of Montecchio, near the mouth of the Adda ;
but it is so surrounded by deadly marshes, that it has been
the grave of more victims to malaria than to war.

Colico, the port of the Valteline, on the lake of Como,
will probably become, from the great line of communication
which has been made with Germany through the Valteline,
a place of much importance, particularly since the establish-
ment of steam-boats on the lake of Como, which secures the
navigation of the lake, from one extremity to the other, in
four or five hours.

But a very interesting part of the new road is its intended
continuation along the shores of the lake from Colico to
Lecco, thus opening a carriage communication between Milan
and the Valteline : already the greater part of this vast under-

* Plate the Fourth.

THE MONTE STELVIO. 89

taking has been accomplished ; and when the whole is com-
pleted, it will probably offer to the traveller the most beautiful
route in Europe for its extent. The engineers have had great
difficulties to contend with in removing the rocks, or cutting
galleries through those which jut boldly into the lake, and
rendering the road secure on the side towards the water.
To the voyager on the lake, the scenes where the workmen
are employed are very animated.

Just before the author arrived at Lecco, the sound of a
drum on the mountain-side where the new road was con-
structing excited his attention : the boatmen informed him
that it was preparatory to the explosion of the mines used
in blasting the rocks ; in a few minutes some hundreds of
these were discharged, and the magnificent reverberation of
the reports from mountain to mountain and on the lake was
most impressive.

Lecco is a pleasant little town, in a delightful situation,
at the extremity of the eastern branch of the lake which bears
the name of the lake of Lecco, though it is only a branch of
the lake of Como. Numerous silk-factories and iron-works
give it a commercial importance, which is heightened by its
favourable situation in the line of the new road to the
Valteline. The produce of its environs, the olive, the mul-
berry-tree, and the vine, are sources of manufacture and
commerce.

The situation of Lecco is highly picturesque, opposite to
the base of a high mountain which sinks abruptly to the lake.*
This mountain is seen not only from Milan, but from far
beyond it on the road to Pavia. From Lecco two roads lead
to MUau ; one of these, rather the shortest, passes directly
through Monza, which has acquired a certain celebrity as the
repository of the iron crown of Charlemagne ; the other, and
by far the most interesting route, lies through Como by the
rich plain of Erba. Immediately below Lecco, where the

* Plate the Fifth.
NO. VI. N

90 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

waters of the lake again become the river Adda, a bridge
crosses the stream, beyond which the different roads to Milan
divide. That which leads to Como is an excellent carriage-
road, entering the valley immediately below the high mountain
which is opposite to Lecco. After a short passage through
this valley, the prospect opens upon scenes of striking richness
and beauty, which are little known to English travellers, and
which continue throughout the journey to Como. The road
passes by several beautiful lakes, particularly that of Pusiano,
and at the bases of hills covered with chestnuts and vines,
whilst olives, mulberry-trees, Indian corn, and other produc-
tions of a generous soil and climate, cover in profuse abundance
this favoured country. Numerous villages, and the towns of
Incino* and Erba, inhabited by a fine race of people, are
traversed by this road ; and the inhabitants of this charming
district appear to participate in its character of prosperity,
enjoyment, and repose. The approach to Como presents one
of the most beautiful views in which this city is an object : it
is seen, far below the vineyards which skirt the road, deeply
embosomed in the mountains ; the Duomo, and part of the
city of Como, are seen bordering upon the lake, which in this
view is almost hidden by the surrounding hills. On the left is
the monastery of San Salvatore, in a commanding situation;
and above Como are its conical hills, surmounted by castellated
ruins. Beyond the hills which surround the lake, the Alps
are seen stretching across the horizon, and conspicuous among
these is the beautiful form of Monte Rosa.f

Como itself is a place of great interest : its early history,
the great men which it has produced, its importance and
exposure during the wars of the Middle Ages, render an
inquiry into its histoiy one of considerable interest. From
Como, the direct road to Milan by Barlasina is dull and mo-
notonous ; but this may be varied by a little detour to Monza,
and a visit to the gardens of the Villa Reale.

* Anciently, Licino Foniru, one of the towns of the Orobii. f Plate the Sixth.

THE MONTE STELVTO. !»1

The importance of the communication which has been
opened between Milan and Austria by the Stelvio, does not
arise from recent political relations : it has always been con-
sidered essential to the maintenance of the Austrian influence
or government in Italy, that access should be had to the
Milanese by the Monte Brauglio and the Valteline. Prior to
the accession of the [Milanese to Austria, the infamous and
unchristian assumption of temporal power by the Bishops of
Como and Coire subjected the wretched inhabitants of Chia-
venna, the Valteline, and Bormio, to the sufferings which
their feuds occasioned : the causes sometimes varied, but the
inflictions continued for centuries; and their political or reli-
gious relations exposed them to oppression from the monarchial
tyranny of distant potentates, or the republican tyranny of
their neighbours the Grisons.

In 1336, these valleys fell under the dominion of Azzo
Visconti, duke of Milan ; one of whose successors, in gratitude
for some political treachery, ceded his right over these terri-
tories to the Bishop of Coire. This became the basis of a
claim which the Grisons afterwards made to the fealty of the
inhabitants of Bormio and the Valteline, and an unsuccessful
irruption was made into these valleys by the Grisons in 1487.
In 1512, when the whole of the valleys froni the Brauglio to
the lake of Como fell with the Milanese into the power of
Louis the Twelfth of France, by his concmest of Ludovico,
duke of Milan, the Grisons, in conjunction with the Bishop
of Coire, entered the Valteline, expelled the French, and
received the homage of the inhabitants : their possession of
it was confirmed by Maximilian Sforza, upon his recovery of
the ducal crowu of Milan ; and again ratified by Francis the
First when he obtained possession of the Milanese. In 1530,
the Grisons compelled the Bishop of Coire to sell his share of
the sovereignty of these valleys ; and it continued in their
possession until the rival interests of France and Spain, con-
tending for the passage of the Valteline, led to scenes of
violence which were increased by the intrigues of the pope

92 PASSES OF THE ALPS.

and the religious dissensions of the inhabitants ; at length it
reached its climax in the horrible catastrophe of a massacre or
expulsion of all the Protestants in those valleys, at the details
of which the heart sickens.

"When Charles the Fifth succeeded to the Milanese as a
fief reverting to the empire, he saw the importance of pos-
sessing the Yalteline as a passage by which to secure the
junction of the troops of Spain and Austria. It was the
policy of the French court to defeat this measure ; and in the
struggles between those great powers, in the wars to which
their jealousies gave rise, the inhabitants of these valleys were
the chief sufferers : and, as if this measure of suffering were
not enough, religious animosity heightened it to the outrages
of the 20th of July, 1620, — the date of the massacre in the
Valteline, which has no parallel but in the dreadful events of
the fete of St. Bartholomew in France.

After long-continued contests, the passage, which was the
object of the war, was secured to the Spaniards by treaty in
1635. There was little political change in these valleys
from that time until 1797, when the Valteline and the
county of Bormio, which had continued baillages of the Gri-
sons, were separated from this government, and, together with
Chiavenna, incorporated in the Cisalpine republic. Upon the
restoration of the Milanese to Austria in 1814, these countries
were conceded in perpetuity as a part of its dominions in Lom-
bardy : and the Austrian government, following the example
of Napoleon, felt the importance of opening a free and direct
communication with its Milanese states. This great under-
taking has been accompl'shed by the construction of the new
military road across the Stelvio.

EXD OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

London: — Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St. Leicester Sq.

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BINDING SECT. MAY 2 9 1973

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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

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